CINCINNATI, OH, Nov 11 (MARKET WIRE) --
National Financial Services is pleased to announce that Gary T. "Doc"
Huffman has been elected Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer. The
Ohio National Board of Directors elected Huffman to the new position Nov.
6, and the promotion became immediately effective.
With more than 30 years experience, Huffman joined Ohio National as Vice
Chairman, Distribution in Aug. 2008. Prior to joining Ohio National,
Huffman was President and Chief Executive Officer of The Union Central
Life Insurance Company and was Executive Vice President and Director of
the UNIFI Mutual Holding Company.
Ohio National Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer David B.
O'Maley noted Huffman's immediate contributions since he joined the
company last fall. "Through Doc's leadership and focus, our distribution
channels have had record-breaking recruiting years in 2009, and sales of
our core individual life and individual annuity products are running well
ahead of the industry. Doc has been instrumental in positioning Ohio
National as an industry and marketplace leader -- the 'flight to quality'
company -- during this very challenging time."
O'Maley noted that Ohio National was one of the few insurance and annuity
companies to have all of its ratings reaffirmed for financial strength
during 2009 by independent rating agencies. "To have our very strong
ratings reaffirmed during this period of unprecedented turmoil is
especially noteworthy."
"We look forward to continuing to emphasize Ohio National's value
proposition to distributors, policyholders and customers, and Doc will
bring his extensive executive management skills and experience to help
further strengthen our product administrative and information functions
going forward," O'Maley added.
With the election to Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, Huffman
continues to serve in the four-person Office of the Chairman. The Office
of the Chairman includes John J. Palmer, Vice Chairman, Ronald J. Dolan,
Vice Chairman and Chief Risk Officer, Huffman and O'Maley. It was formed
in 2008 to enhance the strategic growth of the enterprise and provide for
continuity of management.
A native of Lexington, Ky., Huffman is a graduate of the University of
Kentucky. After graduating, he had a 24-year career with MassMutual before
joining Union Central in July 1999.
Huffman is a member of the Board of Directors of The American College
(Bryn Mawr, Pa.), a nonprofit educational institution dedicated to the
development and education of financial services professionals, and is a
past chairman of LIMRA International, a worldwide association of insurance
and financial services companies. In the Cincinnati area, he is a member
of the Boards of Directors of the Dan Beard Council of the Boy Scouts and
Maple Knoll.
Tracing its corporate origins to 1909, Ohio National today markets a
variety of insurance and financial products through more than 40,000
representatives in 47 states (all except Alaska, Hawaii and New York), the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and through subsidiary operations in
Santiago, Chile. As of December 31, 2008, its affiliated companies have
$21.6 billion total assets under management. Products are issued by The
Ohio National Life Insurance Company and Ohio National Life Assurance
Corporation. Voted Cincinnati's "Best Place to Work" (large category) by
the Business Courier (November 2003) and "25 Best Medium-Sized Companies
to Work for in America" by the Great Place to Work Institute (June 2004),
Ohio National has more than 850 corporate headquarters associates. Visit
www.ohionational.com for more information.
Contact:
Adrienne Gutbier, APR
513.794.6254 office
513.520.1612 cell
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