AFLAC Holds Greek and Portuguese Bonds

On AFLAC’s earnings call, the company revealed that it holds $1.75 billion in Greek and Portuguese bonds.

Aflac Inc., the world’s largest seller of supplemental health insurance, said it holds almost $2 billion of bonds tied to banks in Greece and Portugal, nations that have been cut by ratings firm on mounting debt.
Aflac has about $1 billion in Greek bank bonds and $750 million issued by Portuguese lenders, Chief Investment Officer Jerry Jeffery said in a conference call today. The insurer also holds about $285 million in Greek sovereign bonds, Jeffery said. Greece is waiting on word of a 45 billion-euro ($59 billion) rescue package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund after the nation’s credit rating was cut to junk by Standard & Poor’s yesterday. The ratings firm lowered its rating on Greece by three levels to BB+ from BBB+ and warned that investors could recover as little as 30 percent of their initial outlay if it restructures its debt.
Aflac is “looking very carefully” at limits on sovereign debt, Jeffery said. “I still don’t think it’s predictable what’s going to happen with Greece, but there is enormous pressure being applied by the EU and IMF as we speak. It will be very instructive as to how we proceed.”

Posted by on April 28th, 2010 at 3:05 pm


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