Protective Life Corporation unifies Protection & Retirement Divisions

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Protective Life Corporation (Protective), a subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (Dai-ichi, TSE:8750), announced today that it has unified its Protection and Retirement Divisions, effective Sept. 10. Aaron Seurkamp will lead the unified division as SVP, President, Protection & Retirement Division, while Jim Wagner takes on expanded role as SVP, Chief Distribution Officer for both Protection and Retirement products. In addition, Kenneth Byrd will now serve as SVP, Operations, Protection & Retirement Division, expanding his role to include operations for both product lines, as well as underwriting.

As Protective continues its business transformation, unifying these divisions will enable the company to better serve customers and distributors, capitalize on cross-divisional opportunities, prioritize and align resources, and streamline operations — all with a focus on enabling growth. The newly combined division will continue its focus on helping people achieve financial security through both protection-focused insurance products and the products that protect and grow retirement assets, guaranteed income and efficient wealth transfer.

“Bringing these businesses together as one operating unit will enable us to more effectively create scale while also improving focus in our product and distribution strategy,” said Wade Harrison, EVP and Chief Retail Officer for Protective. “Aaron is a strong, results-oriented leader with a deep understanding of the life and annuity industry and a clear vision for how Protective can continue growing and protecting more customers in these businesses.”
 

Throughout his 20-year career with Protective, Seurkamp has worked in various positions throughout the company’s retail life and annuity business, most recently serving as SVP, President of the Retirement Division. In this role, he led all aspects of the division, including product development, sales and operations. Moving forward, he’ll expand these responsibilities across the combined division. Seurkamp will continue to report to Harrison.

Wagner, who joined Protective in 2011, most recently served as SVP, Chief Distribution Officer for Protective’s Retirement Division. With previous roles leading external and internal sales teams for both protection and retirement, Wagner brings a wealth of experience that will serve him well as he leads the distribution strategy for the unified division.

Byrd, who joined Protective in 2009, most recently served as SVP, Operations, primarily focused on the Protection Division. Throughout his career with Protective, Byrd has worked in numerous operations roles, building extensive experience and expertise in customer experience, process improvement and automation, making him well positioned to lead this critical team. Both Byrd and Wagner will report to Seurkamp.

As Protective continues its transformation, launched in November 2023 to drive growth, the company will invest in new business opportunities, enhance foundational capabilities, and advance a more efficient and effective company. This work is already leading to improved operating processes to compete in the markets of today and the future.

About Protective

Protective Life Corporation has helped people achieve protection and security in their lives for 119 years. Through its subsidiaries, Protective offers life insurance, annuity, asset protection and employee benefit solutions and is helping nearly 32 million people protect what matters most. Protective’s more than 3,900 employees put people first and deliver on the company’s promises to customers, partners, colleagues and communities — because we’re all protectors. With a long-term focus, financial stability and commitment to doing the right thing, Protective Life Corporation, a subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc., has approximately $140 billion in assets, as of Sept. 30, 2025. Protective is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and is supported by a robust virtual workforce and core sites in the greater Cincinnati area and St. Louis. For more information about Protective, visit protective.com.

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Source: Protective Corporation