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Larry J. Adams, CLU, ChFC, Ohio National as Senior Vice President and Chief Agency Officer (Photo: Business Wire)

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Larry J. Adams, CLU, ChFC, a financial services executive with nearly 30 years of experience, joined Ohio National as Senior Vice President and Chief Agency Officer this week.

Adams has overall responsibility for individual life and annuity sales in Ohio National’s traditional independent and career distribution channels.

“At Ohio National, ‘Life changes. We’ll be there.’ is more than our motto, it’s our commitment,” said David B. O’Maley, Ohio National Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Because of the long-term nature of our business, we’re constantly looking toward the future. Larry Adams is uniquely positioned to provide value to the Ohio National organization. As we approach our second century of service, we’re pleased to be aligned with such an experienced financial services professional. I’m confident Larry will play a vital role as Ohio National realizes its enterprise goals.”

Since May 1982, Adams has been affiliated with Protective Life Insurance Company. Adams began his career in an agency environment as a career agent. In 1986, he was promoted to Protective Life Insurance Company’s headquarters operations gaining experience in advanced underwriting, product development and marketing services. He was most recently Vice President, Independent Agent Distribution.

“Ohio National is widely respected within the financial services industry,” said Adams. “I’m pleased to join an organization with both broad, competitive product offerings and a commitment to integrity and vitality. Ohio National’s hallmark of quality support for its distribution channels and financial services professionals is a tradition I’m proud to be a part of.”

Adams holds the CLU and ChFC designations and is FINRA Series 7 registered. He was graduated summa cum laude from Alabama’s University of Montevallo, with an undergraduate degree in marketing and is a two-time Academic All American golfer.

Adams will replace Executive Vice President of Agency and Group Distribution, Gates Smith, CLU, ChFC, who will retire June 30, 2008 after nearly 25 years of dedicated service.

Smith joined Ohio National in October 1984 as Regional Agency Director, Ohio. In July 1989 he was promoted to Vice President of Career Marketing. In March 1994 he was promoted to Senior Vice President Sales and in 1998, he was named to the Board of Directors of The Ohio National Life Insurance Company. Since May 2000 he has served as Executive Vice President of Agency and Group Distribution.

“Gates will be missed not only for the caliber of his leadership but for the quality of his character. His service to others goes beyond ‘the right thing to do.’ He has a deep compassion for – and responsibility to – others, which has made him an able steward of our policyholders through the years,” said O’Maley.

Under Smith’s leadership, Ohio National’s traditional sales organization has experienced excellent growth well ahead of the industry in a time marked by significant competition. Most notably, Ohio National has experienced 18 consecutive years of life insurance sales growth – a record unparalleled in the industry.

According to LIMRA, Ohio National’s PGA distribution is now the eighth largest among all U.S.-based PGA distribution systems and the builder organization ranks 20^th among Career Building distributions. In addition, Ohio National ranks 16^th of all U.S. companies in the number of representatives earning MDRT membership.

Tracing its corporate origins to 1909, Ohio National today markets a variety of insurance and financial products through more than 50,000 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, 2007, its affiliated companies have $24.7 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 and “25 Best Medium-Sized Companies to Work for in America” by the Great Place to Work Institute, Ohio National has more than 800 corporate headquarters associates. Visit www.ohionational.com for more information.

Tags: insurance