AFLAC INC

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The Company earns its revenues principally from insurance premiums and investments. The Company’s operating expenses primarily consist of insurance benefits provided and reserves established for anticipated future insurance benefits, general business expenses, commissions and other costs of selling and servicing its products. Profitability for the Company depends principally on its ability to price its insurance products at a level that enables the Company to earn a margin over the costs associated with providing benefits and administering those products. Profitability also depends on, among other items, actuarial and policyholder behavior experience on insurance products, and the Company's ability to attract and retain customer assets, generate and maintain favorable investment results, effectively deploy capital and utilize tax capacity, and manage expenses.

This document includes references to the Company’s financial performance measures which are not calculated in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) (non-U.S. GAAP). The financial measures exclude items that the Company believes may obscure the underlying fundamentals and trends in insurance operations because they tend to be driven by general economic conditions and events or related to infrequent activities not directly associated with insurance operations.

Due to the size of Aflac Japan, where the functional currency is the Japanese yen, fluctuations in the yen/dollar exchange rate can have a significant effect on reported results. In periods when the yen weakens, translating yen into dollars results in fewer dollars being reported. When the yen strengthens, translating yen into dollars results in more dollars being reported. Consequently, yen weakening has the effect of suppressing current period results in relation to the comparable prior period, while yen strengthening has the effect of magnifying current period results in relation to the comparable prior period. A significant portion of the Company’s business is conducted in yen and never converted into dollars but translated into dollars for U.S. GAAP reporting purposes, which results in foreign currency impact to earnings, cash flows and book value on a U.S. GAAP basis. Management evaluates the Company's financial performance both including and excluding the impact of foreign currency translation to monitor, respectively, cumulative currency impacts and the currency-neutral operating performance over time. The average yen/dollar exchange rate is based on the published MUFG Bank, Ltd. telegraphic transfer middle rate (TTM).

The Company defines the non-U.S. GAAP financial measures included in this document as follows:

•Adjusted earnings are adjusted revenues less benefits and adjusted expenses. Adjusted earnings per share (basic or diluted) are the adjusted earnings for the period divided by the weighted average outstanding shares (basic or diluted) for the period presented. The adjustments to both revenues and expenses account for certain items that are outside of management’s control because they tend to be driven by general economic conditions and events or are related to infrequent activities not directly associated with insurance operations. Adjusted revenues are U.S. GAAP total revenues excluding adjusted net investment gains and losses. Adjusted expenses are U.S. GAAP total acquisition and operating expenses including the impact of interest from derivatives associated with notes payable but excluding any non-recurring or other items not associated with the normal course of the Company’s insurance operations and that do not reflect the Company's underlying business performance. Management uses adjusted earnings and adjusted earnings per diluted share to evaluate the financial performance of the Company’s insurance operations on a consolidated basis and believes that a presentation of these financial measures is vitally important to an understanding of the underlying profitability drivers and trends of the Company’s insurance business. The most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures for adjusted earnings and adjusted earnings per share (basic or diluted) are net earnings and net earnings per share, respectively.

•Adjusted net investment gains and lossesare net investment gains and losses adjusted for i) amortized hedge cost/income related to foreign currency exposure management strategies and certain derivative activity, ii) net interest income/expense from foreign currency and interest rate derivatives associated with certain investment strategies, which are both reclassified to net investment income, and iii) the impact of interest from derivatives associated with notes payable, which is reclassified to interest expense as a component of total adjusted expenses. The Company considers adjusted net investment gains and losses important as it represents the remainder amount that is considered outside management’s control, while excluding the components that are within management’s control and are accordingly reclassified to net investment income and interest expense. The most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure for adjusted net investment gains and losses is net investment gains and losses.

•Amortized hedge costs/income represent costs/income incurred or recognized as a result of using foreign currency derivatives to hedge certain foreign exchange risks in the Company's Japan segment or in Corporate and other. These amortized hedge costs/income are estimated at the inception of the derivatives based on the specific terms of each contract and are recognized on a straight-line basis over the contractual term of the derivative. The Company believes that amortized hedge costs/income measure the periodic currency risk management costs/income related to hedging certain foreign currency exchange risks and are an important component of net investment income. There is no comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure for amortized hedge costs/income.

•Adjusted earnings excluding current period foreign currency impact are computed using the average foreign currency exchange rate for the comparable prior-year period, which eliminates fluctuations driven solely by foreign currency exchange rate changes. Adjusted earnings per diluted share excluding current period foreign currency impact is adjusted earnings excluding current period foreign currency impact divided by the weighted average outstanding diluted shares for the period presented. The Company considers adjusted earnings excluding current period foreign currency impact and adjusted earnings per diluted share excluding current period foreign currency impact important because a significant portion of the Company's business is conducted in Japan and foreign exchange rates are outside management’s control; therefore, the Company believes it is important to understand the impact of translating foreign currency (primarily Japanese yen) into U.S. dollars. The most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures for adjusted earnings excluding current period foreign currency impact and adjusted earnings per diluted share excluding current period foreign currency impact are net earnings and net earnings per share, respectively.

•Adjusted book valueis the U.S. GAAP book value (representing total shareholders’ equity), less AOCI as recorded on the U.S. GAAP balance sheet. Adjusted book value per common share is adjusted book value at the period end divided by the ending outstanding common shares for the period presented. The Company considers adjusted book value and adjusted book value per common share important as they exclude AOCI, which fluctuates due to market movements that are outside management’s control. The most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures for adjusted book value and adjusted book value per common share are total book value and total book value per common share, respectively.

•Adjusted return on equity excluding foreign currency impactis adjusted earnings excluding the current period foreign currency impact divided by average shareholders’ equity, excluding AOCI. The Company considers adjusted return on equity excluding foreign currency impact important as it excludes changes in foreign currency and components of AOCI, which fluctuate due to market movements that are outside management's control. The most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure for adjusted return on equity excluding foreign currency impact is return on average equity (ROE) as determined using net earnings and average total shareholders’ equity.

•U.S. dollar-denominated investment income excluding foreign currency impact represents amounts excluding foreign currency impact on U.S. dollar-denominated investment income using the average foreign currency exchange rate for the comparable prior year period. The Company considers U.S. dollar-denominated investment income excluding foreign currency impact important as it eliminates the impact of foreign currency changes on the Aflac Japan segment results, which are outside management’s control. The most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure for U.S. dollar-denominated investment income excluding foreign currency impact is the corresponding net investment income amount from the U.S. dollar denominated investments translated to yen.

The following table is a reconciliation of items impacting adjusted earnings and adjusted earnings per diluted share to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures of net earnings and net earnings per diluted share, respectively.

Reconciliation of Net Earnings to Adjusted Earnings

(1) See reconciliation of net investment (gains) losses to adjusted net investment (gains) losses below.

(2)Prior period foreign currency impact reflected as “N/A” to isolate change for current period only.

Reconciling Items

Net Investment Gains and Losses

Reconciliation of Net Investment (Gains) Losses to Adjusted Net Investment (Gains) Losses

The Company's investment strategy is to invest primarily in fixed maturity securities to provide a reliable stream of investment income, which is one of the drivers of the Company’s profitability. This investment strategy incorporates asset-liability matching (ALM) to align the expected cash flows of the portfolio to the needs of the Company's liability structure. The Company does not purchase securities with the intent of generating investment gains or losses. However, investment gains and losses may be realized as a result of changes in the financial markets and the creditworthiness of specific issuers, tax planning strategies, and/or general portfolio management and rebalancing. The realization of investment gains and losses is independent of the underwriting and administration of the Company's insurance products.

Net investment gains and losses excluded from adjusted earnings include the following:

•Securities Transactions

•Credit Losses

•Changes in the Fair Value of Equity Securities

•Certain Derivative and Foreign Currency Activities.

Securities Transactions, Credit Losses and Changes in the Fair Value of Equity Securities

Securities transactions include gains and losses from sales and redemptions of investments where the amount received is different from the amortized cost of the investment. Credit losses include losses for held-to-maturity fixed maturity securities, available-for-sale fixed maturity securities, loan receivables, loan commitments and reinsurance recoverables. Changes in the fair value of equity securities are the result of gains or losses driven by fluctuations in market prices.

Certain Derivative and Foreign Currency Activities

The Company's derivative activities include:

•foreign currency forwards and options used in hedging foreign exchange risk on U.S. dollar-denominated investments in Aflac Japan's portfolio, with options used on a standalone basis and/or in a collar strategy;

•foreign currency forwards and options used to economically hedge certain portions of forecasted cash flows denominated in yen and hedge the Company's long term exposure to a weakening yen;

•cross-currency interest rate swaps, also referred to as foreign currency swaps, associated with certain senior notes and subordinated debentures;

•foreign currency swaps that are associated with variable interest entity (VIE) bond purchase commitments, and investments in special-purpose entities, including VIEs where the Company is the primary beneficiary;

•interest rate swaps used to economically hedge interest rate fluctuations in certain variable-rate investments;

•interest rate swaptions used to hedge changes in the fair value associated with interest rate fluctuations for certain U.S. dollar-denominated available-for-sale fixed-maturity securities; and

•bond purchase commitments at the inception of investments in consolidated VIEs.

Gains and losses are recognized as a result of valuing these derivatives, net of the effects of hedge accounting. The Company also excludes from adjusted earnings the accounting impacts of remeasurement associated with changes in the foreign currency exchange rate.

For additional information regarding net investment gains and losses, including details of reported amounts for the periods presented, see Notes 3 and 4 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Other and Non-recurring Items

The U.S. insurance industry has a policyholder protection system that provides funds for the policyholders of insolvent insurers. The system can result in periodic charges to the Company as a result of insolvencies/bankruptcies that occur with other companies in the life insurance industry. Some states permit member insurers to recover assessments paid through full or partial premium tax offsets. These charges neither relate to the ordinary course of the Company’s business nor reflect the Company’s underlying business performance, but result from external situations not controlled by the Company. The Company excludes any charges associated with U.S. guaranty fund assessments and the corresponding tax benefit or expense from adjusted earnings.

In Japan, the government also requires the insurance industry to contribute to a policyholder protection corporation that provides funds for the policyholders of insolvent insurers; however, these costs are calculated and administered differently than in the U.S. In Japan, these costs are not directly related to specific insolvencies or bankruptcies, but are rather a regular operational cost for an insurance company. Based on this structure, the Company does not remove the Japan policyholder protection expenses from adjusted earnings.

The Company considers the costs associated with the early redemption of its debt to be unrelated to the underlying fundamentals and trends in its insurance operations. Additionally, these costs are driven by changes in interest rates subsequent to the issuance of the debt, and the Company considers these interest rate changes to represent economic conditions not directly associated with its insurance operations.

Income Taxes

The Company's combined U.S. and Japanese effective income tax rate on pretax earnings was 13.4% for the three-month period ended March 31, 2024, compared with 11.5% for the same period in 2023. The combined effective tax rate differs from the U.S. statutory rate primarily due to historic and solar tax credits and the exclusion of foreign currency translation gains and losses held in the Delaware Statutory Trust. For additional information, see the Critical Accounting Estimates - Income Taxes section of Item 7. MD&A in the 2023 Annual Report.

The Company expects that its effective tax rate on adjusted earnings for future periods will be approximately 20%. The effective tax rate continues to be subject to future tax law changes both in the U.S. and in foreign jurisdictions. See the risk factor entitled "Tax rates applicable to the Company may change" in Item 1A. Risk Factors of the 2023 Annual Report for more information.

Foreign Currency Translation

Aflac Japan’s premiums and a significant portion of its investment income are received in yen, and its claims and most expenses are paid in yen. Aflac Japan purchases yen-denominated assets and U.S. dollar-denominated assets, which may be hedged to yen, to support yen-denominated policy liabilities. Yen-denominated income statement accounts are translated to U.S. dollars using the weighted average Japanese yen/U.S. dollar foreign exchange rate for the reporting period, except realized gains and losses on securities transactions which are translated at the exchange rate on the trade date of each transaction. Yen-denominated balance sheet accounts are translated to U.S. dollars using the spot Japanese yen/U.S. dollar foreign exchange rate at the end of the reporting period.

Reconciliation of Book Value to Adjusted Book Value

The following table is a reconciliation of items impacting adjusted book value and adjusted book value per diluted share to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures of book value and book value per diluted share, respectively.

Reconciliation of Return on Equity to Adjusted Return on Equity

(Excluding the Impact of Foreign Currency)

The following table is a reconciliation of items impacting adjusted return on equity excluding the impact of foreign currency to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure of return on equity for the three-month periods ended March 31.

(1)U.S. GAAP return on equity is calculated by dividing net earnings (annualized) by average shareholders' equity.

(2)See separate reconciliation of net earnings to adjusted earnings above.

(3) Impact of foreign currency is calculated by restating all foreign currency components of the income statement to the weighted average foreign currency exchange rate for the comparable prior year period. The impact is the difference of the restated adjusted earnings compared to reported adjusted earnings. For comparative purposes, only current period income is restated using the weighted average prior period exchange rate, which eliminates the foreign currency impact for the current period. This allows for equal comparison of this financial measure.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS BY SEGMENT

U.S. GAAP financial reporting requires that a company report financial and descriptive information about operating segments in its annual and interim period financial statements. Furthermore, the Company is required to report a measure of segment profit or loss, certain revenue and expense items, and segment assets. The Company's insurance business consists of two segments: Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. Aflac Japan is the principal contributor to consolidated earnings. In addition, the Parent Company, other business units that are not individually reportable, reinsurance activities, including internal reinsurance activity with Aflac Re, and other business activities not included in Aflac Japan or Aflac U.S., as well as intercompany eliminations, are included in Corporate and other. See Item 1. Business in the 2023 Annual Report for a summary of each segment's products and distribution channels.

Consistent with U.S. GAAP guidance for segment reporting, pretax adjusted earnings is the Company's U.S. GAAP measure of segment performance. The Company believes that a presentation of this measure is vitally important to an understanding of the underlying profitability drivers and trends of its business. Additional performance measures used to evaluate the financial condition and performance of the Company's segments are listed below.

•Operating Ratios

•New Annualized Premium Sales

•New Money Yield

•Return on Average Invested Assets

•Average Weekly Producer

•Premium Persistency

For additional information on the Company’s performance measures included in this MD&A, see the Glossary of Selected Terms found directly following Part II. Other Information. See Note 2 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for the reconciliation of segment results to the Company's consolidated U.S. GAAP results and additional information.

AFLAC JAPAN SEGMENT

Aflac Japan Pretax Adjusted Earnings

Changes in Aflac Japan’s pretax adjusted earnings and profit margins are primarily affected by morbidity, mortality, expenses, persistency and investment yields. The following table presents a summary of operating results for Aflac Japan.

Aflac Japan Summary of Operating Results

(1)Net interest income/expense from derivatives associated with certain investment strategies of $(79) and $(62) for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, have been reclassified from net investment gains (losses) and included in adjusted earnings as a component of net investment income.

For the three-month period ended March 31, 2024, operating results in yen terms compared to the same period in the previous year were as follows:

•Net earned premiums decreased primarily due to approximately ¥8 billion related to the internal reinsurance transaction with Aflac Re established in the fourth quarter of 2023 and approximately ¥6 billion in limited-pay products reaching premium paid-up status.

•Adjusted net investment income increased primarily due to lower hedge costs of ¥7 billion, the weakening of the yen of ¥6 billion, higher variable net investment income of ¥5 billion and higher fixed rate income of ¥3 billion, partially offset by lower floating rate income due to the increase in loans on nonaccrual status.

•Total adjusted revenues decreased slightly primarily due to the decrease in net earned premiums mostly offset by the increase in adjusted net investment income.

•Total benefits and claims decreased primarily due to the internal reinsurance transaction with Aflac Re established in the fourth quarter of 2023.

•Total adjusted expenses decreased primarily due to the internal reinsurance transaction with Aflac Re established in the fourth quarter of 2023 as well as expense control efforts.

•Pretax adjusted earnings increased primarily due to the decrease in both total benefits and claims and total adjusted expenses.

Annualized premiums in force decreased 3.8% to ¥1.23 trillion as of March 31, 2024, compared with ¥1.28 trillion as of March 31, 2023. The decrease in annualized premiums in force in yen was driven primarily by limited-pay products reaching premium paid-up status. Annualized premiums in force, translated into dollars at respective period-end exchange rates, were $8.1 billion at March 31, 2024, compared with $9.6 billion at March 31, 2023. As of March 31, 2024, Aflac Japan exceeded 22 million individual policies in force in Japan, with more than 14 million cancer policies in force in Japan.

Aflac Japan's investment portfolios include U.S. dollar-denominated securities and reverse-dual currency securities (yen-denominated debt securities with dollar coupon payments). In years when the yen strengthens in relation to the dollar, translating Aflac Japan's U.S. dollar-denominated investment income into yen lowers growth rates for net investment income, total adjusted revenues, and pretax adjusted earnings in yen terms. In years when the yen weakens, translating U.S. dollar-denominated investment income into yen magnifies growth rates for net investment income, total adjusted revenues, and pretax adjusted earnings in yen terms.

The following table illustrates the effect of translating Aflac Japan’s U.S. dollar-denominated investment income and related items into yen by comparing certain segment results with those that would have been reported had foreign currency exchange rates remained unchanged from the comparable period in the prior year. Amounts excluding foreign currency impact on U.S. dollar-denominated investment income were determined using the average foreign currency exchange rate for the comparable prior year period. See non-U.S. GAAP financial measures defined above.

Aflac Japan Percentage Changes Over Previous Period

(Yen Operating Results)

For the Periods Ended March 31,

The following table presents a summary of operating ratios in yen terms for Aflac Japan followed by a discussion of the significant drivers of changes in operating ratios in yen compared to the same period in the previous year.

For the three-month period ended March 31, 2024, the total benefits and claims to total premiums ratio was flat. The total adjusted expense ratio decreased in the three-month period ended March 31, 2024 primarily due to the decrease in total adjusted expenses associated with the internal reinsurance transaction with Aflac Re established in the fourth quarter of 2023 as well as expense control efforts. In total, the pretax adjusted profit margin increased in the three-month period ended March 31, 2024 primarily due to the lower expense ratio and a slight offsetting decrease in total adjusted revenues.

The following table presents Aflac Japan's premium persistency on a 12-month rolling basis as of March 31.

Aflac Japan Sales

The following table presents Aflac Japan’s new annualized premium sales for the periods ended March 31.

The decrease in new annualized premium sales on a yen basis in the first quarter of 2024 was primarily due to a decrease in the sales of first sector products.

The following table details the contributions to Aflac Japan's new annualized premium sales by major insurance product for the periods ended March 31.

(1)Includes term and whole life

The foundation of Aflac Japan's product portfolio has been, and continues to be, third sector products, which include cancer, medical, income support and other products. With continued cost pressure on Japan’s health care system, the Company expects the need for third sector products will continue to rise in the future and that the medical and cancer insurance products Aflac Japan provides will continue to be an important part of its product portfolio. Moreover, in November 2022, Aflac Japan refreshed its first sector savings-type products WAYS and Child Endowment and began to actively promote sales of these products after having curtailed sales of both products beginning in 2013. The refreshment of these first sector products position Aflac Japan for potential future long-term sales opportunities by marketing these products to a younger demographic as well as potential cross-selling opportunities of Aflac Japan's third sector products.

Sales of Aflac Japan cancer insurance products in the Japan Post Group channel experienced a material decline beginning in August 2019. Japan Post Group resumed proactive sales of cancer insurance policies in April 2021 and Aflac Japan continues to strengthen the strategic alliance. In April 2023, Japan Post Group began selling Aflac Japan's new cancer insurance product that was first launched in other channels in August 2022.

Aflac Japan continues to promote digital and web-based sales to groups and use of its system that enables smart device-based insurance application by allowing the customer and an Aflac Japan operator to see the same screen through their smart devices. Further, Aflac Japan continues to utilize its virtual sales tool that enables online consultations and policy applications to be completed entirely online.

The following table details the contributions to Aflac Japan's new annualized premium sales by agency type for the three-month periods ended March 31.

(1)Includes Japan Post Group, Dai-ichi Life and Daido Life

During the three-month period ended March 31, 2024, Aflac Japan recruited 12 new sales agencies. At March 31, 2024, Aflac Japan was represented by approximately 6,900 sales agencies, with approximately 113,000 licensed sales associates employed by those agencies. The number of sales agencies has declined in recent years due to Aflac Japan's focus on supporting agencies with strong management frameworks, high productivity and more producing agents.

At March 31, 2024, Aflac Japan had agreements to sell its products at 360 banks, approximately 90% of the total number of banks in Japan.

Aflac Japan Investments

The level of investment income in yen is affected by available cash flow from operations, the timing of investing the cash flow, yields on new investments, the effect of yen/dollar exchange rates on U.S. dollar-denominated investment income, and other factors.

As part of the Company's portfolio management and asset allocation process, Aflac Japan invests in yen and U.S. dollar-denominated investments. Yen-denominated investments primarily consist of Japan Government Bonds (JGBs), public and private fixed maturity securities and public equity securities. Aflac Japan's U.S. dollar-denominated investments include fixed maturity investments, loan receivables, and growth assets, including alternative investments in limited partnerships or similar investment vehicles. Aflac Japan invests in both publicly traded and privately originated U.S. dollar-denominated investment-grade and below-investment-grade fixed maturity securities and loan receivables, and has entered into foreign currency forwards and options to hedge the currency risk on the fair value of a portion of the U.S. dollar investments.

The following table details the investment purchases for Aflac Japan.

See the Investments section of this MD&A for further discussion of these investment programs, and see Notes 3 and 4 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes 1, 3 and 4 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in the 2023 Annual Report for more information regarding loans and loan receivables.

The following table presents the results of Aflac Japan’s investment yields for the periods ended March 31.

(1)Includes fixed maturity securities, commercial mortgage and other loans, equity securities, and excludes alternative investments in limited partnerships

(2)Reported on a gross yield basis; excludes investment expenses, external management fees and amortized hedge costs

(3)Net of investment expenses and amortized hedge costs, year-to-date number reflected on a quarterly average basis

The increase in the Aflac Japan new money yield in the three-month period ended March 31, 2024 was primarily due to higher allocations to higher yielding asset classes. See Notes 3, 4 and 5 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements and the Investments and Hedging Activities sections of this MD&A for additional information on the Company's investments and hedging strategies.

AFLAC U.S. SEGMENT

Aflac U.S. Pretax Adjusted Earnings

Changes in Aflac U.S. pretax adjusted earnings and profit margins are primarily affected by morbidity, mortality, expenses, persistency and investment yields. The following table presents a summary of operating results for Aflac U.S.

Aflac U.S. Summary of Operating Results

(1)Net interest income/expense from derivatives associated with certain investment strategies of $(9) and $(7) for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, have been reclassified from net investment gains (losses) and included in adjusted earnings as a component of net investment income.

For the three-month period ended March 31, 2024, operating results compared to the same period in the previous year were as follows:

•Net earned premiums increased primarily due to higher net earned premiums from growth initiatives including group life and disability, network dental and vision, and consumer markets businesses.

•Adjusted net investment income increased primarily due to higher variable income, higher short-term income and higher yielding asset classes.

•Total adjusted revenues increased primarily due to the increase in net earned premiums.

•Total benefits and claims increased primarily due to growth of group life and disability and lower remeasurement gains reflecting actual experience.

•Total adjusted expenses increased slightly primarily due to higher deferred policy acquisition costs amortization and an offsetting decrease in insurance and other expenses.

•Pretax adjusted earnings increased primarily due to higher net earned premiums.

Annualized premiums in force increased 3.1% to $6.2 billion at March 31, 2024, compared with $6.0 billion at March 31, 2023.

The following table presents a summary of operating ratios for Aflac U.S. followed by a discussion of the significant drivers of changes in operating ratios compared to the same period in the previous year.

For the three-month period ended March 31, 2024, the total benefits and claims to total premiums ratio increased primarily due to lower remeasurement gains. The total adjusted expense ratio decreased in the three-month period ended March 31, 2024 primarily due to higher total adjusted revenues. In total, the pretax adjusted profit margin decreased slightly in the three-month period ended March 31, 2024 primarily due to the higher total benefits and claims to total adjusted revenues ratio.

The following table presents premium persistency for Aflac U.S. on a 12-month rolling basis as of March 31.

Aflac U.S. Sales

The following table presents Aflac's U.S. new annualized premium sales for the periods ended March 31.

The decrease in new annualized premium sales for Aflac U.S. in the first quarter of 2024 reflects continued strong underwriting discipline.

The following table details the contributions to Aflac's U.S. new annualized premium sales by major insurance product category for the periods ended March 31.

(1)Includes cancer, critical illness, and hospital intensive care products

In the first quarter of 2024, the Aflac U.S. sales force included an average of approximately 5,800 U.S. agents, including brokers, who were actively producing business on a weekly basis. The Company believes that this average weekly producer equivalent metric allows sales management to monitor progress and needs, as well as serve as a leading indicator of future production capacity.

As previously reported in the 2023 Annual Report, in July 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of the Treasury and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (the tri-agencies) issued a proposed joint rule that, as written, could have potentially imposed significant limitations on the structure of benefits for hospital indemnity and other fixed indemnity plans, including those sold by Aflac U.S. However, on March 28, 2024, the tri-agencies released the final regulations requiring expanded disclosures to consumers for hospital and fixed indemnity insurance. The final regulations, which become effective June 17, 2024, did not include the proposals relating to the regulation and tax treatment of hospital and fixed indemnity insurance. As such, the implementation of the final regulations is not anticipated to have a material impact on Aflac U.S. sales.

Aflac U.S. Investments

The level of investment income is affected by available cash flow from operations, the timing of investing the cash flow, yields on new investments, and other factors.

As part of the Company's portfolio management and asset allocation process, Aflac U.S. invests in fixed maturity investments, loan receivables, and growth assets, including public equity securities and alternative investments in limited partnerships. Aflac U.S. invests in both publicly traded and privately originated investment-grade and below-investment-grade fixed maturity securities and loan receivables.

The following table details the investment purchases for Aflac U.S.

See Note 3 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes 1 and 3 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in the 2023 Annual Report for more information regarding loans and loans receivables.

The following table presents the results of Aflac's U.S. investment yields for the periods ended March 31.

(1)Includes fixed maturity securities, commercial mortgage and other loans, equity securities, and excludes alternative investments in limited partnerships

(2)Reported on a gross yield basis; excludes investment expenses and external management fees

(3)Net of investment expenses, year-to-date number reflected on a quarterly average basis

The decrease in the Aflac U.S. new money yield in the three-month period ended March 31, 2024 was primarily due to higher allocations to lower yielding asset classes. See Notes 3 and 5 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements and the Investments section of this MD&A for additional information on the Company's investments.

CORPORATE AND OTHER

Changes in the pretax adjusted earnings of Corporate and other are primarily affected by internal reinsurance activity and net investment income. The following table presents a summary of operating results for Corporate and other.

Corporate and Other Summary of Operating Results

(1) The change in value of federal historic rehabilitation and solar investments in partnerships of $32 and $51 for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively, is included as a reduction to net investment income. Tax credits on these investments of $33 and $52 for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively, have been recorded as an income tax benefit in the consolidated statements of earnings. See Note 3 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on these investments.

For the three-month period ended March 31, 2024, operating results compared to the same period in the previous year were as follows:

•Net earned premiums and total benefits and claims increased primarily due to higher reinsurance activity resulting from agreements established in the fourth quarter of 2023.

•Adjusted net investment income increased due to higher Aflac Re consolidated investment income of $23 million primarily due to a higher volume of assets as part of the reinsurance agreements established in the fourth quarter of 2023 and $19 million due to a lower volume of federal historic rehabilitation and solar tax credit investments, with offsetting tax benefits recognized as a corresponding lower income tax expense.

•Total adjusted revenues increased due to higher net earned premiums and higher adjusted net investment income.

•Total adjusted expenses increased primarily due to the higher reinsurance activity of $37 million as well as an increase in other general operating expenses.

•Pretax adjusted earnings increased due to higher total adjusted revenues partially offset by the higher total benefits and adjusted expenses.

The Parent Company invests in partnerships that specialize in rehabilitating historic structures or the installation of solar equipment in order to receive federal historic rehabilitation and solar tax credits. These investments are classified as limited partnerships and included in other investments in the consolidated balance sheets. The change in value of each investment is recorded as a reduction to net investment income. Tax credits generated by these investments are recorded as an income tax benefit in the consolidated statements of earnings.