ING Insurance U.S. Names Alain Karaoglan as Executive Vice President, Finance and Strategy

NEW YORK, April 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ING Insurance U.S. today announced the appointment of Alain Karaoglan executive vice president, Finance and Strategy. This appointment is another step in preparing the U.S. insurance and investment management organization for a U.S.-focused IPO.

As EVP of Finance and Strategy, Karaoglan will play a key role in the development and implementation of ING Insurance U.S.'s overall strategic direction and IPO readiness, and be responsible for capital management activities and the development of an investor relations function. Karaoglan will coordinate closely with Ewout Steenbergen, chief financial officer, ING Insurance U.S., and report to Rodney O. Martin Jr., chief executive officer, ING Insurance U.S. Karaoglan will join ING effective April 25.

"Alain has vast experience and expertise with IPOs and other public and private market transactions, and he is widely respected for his comprehensive knowledge of the insurance industry and the global investment community. His skill set complements the strong leadership that is already in place at ING Insurance U.S.," Martin said. "As we continue down this path, the senior management team – and all our employees – are concentrating on three key priorities: delivering strong operating results, focusing on the needs of our customers and our distribution partners and preparing for our IPO."

Throughout his 24-year career, Karaoglan has been on the front lines of the investment banking industry in corporate finance, M&A and equity research. Karaoglan was most recently with American International Group, where he was head of Divestitures and was involved in many transactions, including the IPO of AIA and the sale of ALICO to MetLife. Karaoglan earned his master's degree in business administration at the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College, and bachelor's degrees in economics and business administration from Pepperdine University.

"I am honored to be joining one of the leading retirement, insurance, and investment management companies in the U.S. at this pivotal time in its history," said Karaoglan. "I look forward to working with my new colleagues as we prepare for a U.S.-focused IPO."

About ING

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, investments, life insurance and retirement services to over 85 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 40 countries. With a diverse workforce of about 107,000 people, ING is dedicated to setting the standard in helping our clients manage their financial future.

In the U.S., the ING (NYSE: ING) family of companies offer a comprehensive array of financial services to retail and institutional clients, which includes life insurance, retirement plans, mutual funds, managed accounts, alternative investments, institutional investment management, annuities, employee benefits and financial planning. ING holds top-tier rankings in key U.S. markets and serves nearly 15 million customers across the nation. For more information, visit www.ing.us.

Important Legal Information

Certain of the statements contained herein are not historical facts, including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, without limitation: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular economic conditions in ING's core markets, (2) changes in performance of financial markets, including developing markets, (3) the implementation of ING's restructuring plan to separate banking and insurance operations, (4) changes in the availability of, and costs associated with, sources of liquidity such as interbank funding, as well as conditions in the credit markets generally, including changes in borrower and counterparty creditworthiness, (5) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, (6) changes affecting mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (7) changes affecting persistency levels, (8) changes affecting interest rate levels, (9) changes affecting currency exchange rates, (10) changes in general competitive factors, (11) changes in laws and regulations, (12) changes in the policies of governments and/or regulatory authorities, (13) conclusions with regard to purchase accounting assumptions and methodologies, (14) changes in ownership that could affect the future availability to us of net operating loss, net capital and built-in loss carry forwards, (15) ING's ability to achieve projected operational synergies, and (16) the move towards fair value accounting for Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Benefits for the US Closed Block VA business line. ING assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for any other reason.

SOURCE ING Insurance U.S.