Unum Group Names Steve Jones as President of Colonial Life

Business

Unum Group Names Steve Jones as President of Colonial Life

2026-05-01 02:23 Last Updated At：02:31

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 30, 2026--

Unum Group has appointed Steve Jones as president of Colonial Life, effective June 8. In this role, Jones will lead Colonial Life’s business performance and long-term strategy and report to Rick McKenney, president and chief executive officer at Unum Group.

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As part of a planned transition, Jones will succeed Tim Arnold, who will retire in July after a 41-year career with Unum Group, including the last 11 years as president of Colonial Life.

“Colonial Life is a critical part of Unum Group’s growth strategy, and Steve is well prepared to lead the business forward. He brings deep industry experience, a strong track record of driving results and a clear focus on serving employers, brokers and the employees who count on our products. As we transition leadership, I am confident Steve will build on Colonial Life’s momentum and position the company for continued success,” said McKenney.

Jones joined Colonial Life in 2023 as senior vice president of field and market development. He brings more than 20 years of leadership experience across the insurance industry, with a strong focus on supplemental, ancillary and health products. Before joining Colonial Life, he held senior executive roles at leading insurers, including serving as president of Cigna Supplemental Benefits and chief operating and chief financial officer within Aetna’s senior supplemental insurance business.

“I am honored to step into the role of president of Colonial Life and build on the strong foundation Tim and our team have established. Colonial Life has a powerful purpose and a deep commitment to the customers we serve. I am excited to work with this talented organization to continue growing the business and delivering meaningful value for our customers,” said Jones.

“Tim’s leadership has had a lasting impact on Unum Group and Colonial Life. Over his tenure, he helped grow our voluntary benefits business, led through meaningful change and always kept customers at the center of our work. I am grateful for Tim’s steady leadership, his commitment to developing our people and the strong foundation he leaves behind,” added McKenney.

Jones earned a bachelor’s degree from Hampden-Sydney College and an MBA from Wake Forest University School of Business. Steve and his family live in Columbia, where he is active in the local community, serving on the boards of the United Way of the Midlands, City Year Columbia, and the Council of Advisors for South Carolina Manufacturers & Commerce.

ABOUT COLONIAL LIFE

Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Unum Group, provides financial protection benefits to America’s workers and their families when the unexpected happens. The company offers workplace benefits, including disability, life, accident, dental, cancer, critical illness and hospital confinement indemnity insurance. Colonial Life’s benefit services, education and innovative enrollment technology supports 95,000 businesses and 4 million workers. In 2025, Colonial Life paid more than $730 million in benefits to policyholders

Connect with Colonial Life on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

ABOUT UNUM GROUP

Unum Group (NYSE: UNM), a leading international provider of workplace benefits and services, has been helping workers and their families thrive for more than 175 years. Through its Unum and Colonial Life brands, the company offers disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental, and vision insurance; leave and absence management support; and behavioral health services. In 2025, Unum Group reported revenues of $13.1 billion and paid $8.3 billion in benefits. The Fortune 500 company is recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere®.

Visit the Unum newsroom for more information, and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

UK raises national terror threat level after the stabbing of 2 Jewish men

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government said Thursday that the country is facing an antisemitism emergency and pledged to increase security for Jewish communities after a string of arson attacks and a double stabbing that have sparked fear and anger among Jews.

The country's official terror threat level was raised from substantial to severe after Wednesday's stabbing attack in London, which police have called an act of terrorism with potential links to Iran. Severe is the second-highest rung on a five-point scale and means intelligence agencies consider an attack highly likely in the next six months.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that his government “will do everything in our power to stamp this hatred out” after two Jewish men, ages 34 and 76, were seriously injured in a stabbing in Golders Green, an area in north London that is an epicenter of Britain's Jewish community. Both men are in a stable condition.

But some in the community turned their anger on the government, which they say is failing to tackle antisemitism. Starmer was heckled by about 100 protesters holding signs saying “Keir Starmer, Jew harmer” when he visited Golders Green on Thursday.

The prime minister said in response that “I absolutely understand the high levels of anxiety and concern that there are.”

“Antisemitism is an old, old hatred. History shows that the roots are deep, and if you turn away, it grows back," he said during a televised statement at 10 Downing St. “Yet far too many people in this country diminish it.”

Police have arrested a 45-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder over the attack. Detectives are working to determine a motive and whether there is any link to Iranian proxies.

The suspect, whose name hasn’t been released, had “a history of serious violence and mental health issues,” police said. In 2020, he was referred to the government’s Prevent program, which tries to steer individuals away from extremism. The police force said that his file was closed later the same year, and didn't disclose the reason for the referral.

Britain’s Jewish community, which numbers about 300,000 people, has faced growing attacks online and in the streets.

The number of antisemitic incidents reported across the U.K. has soared since the attack by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza, according to the Community Security Trust charity.

In October, an attacker drove his car into people gathered outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur and fatally stabbed one man. Another man died during the attack after being inadvertently shot by police.

Since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28, there have been a string of arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites in London as well as on opponents of the Iranian government.

Police say that 28 people have been arrested over those attacks, which did not cause any injuries. A handful have been charged and one teenager has been convicted after pleading guilty.

Several arson attacks have been claimed online in the name of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia. Israel’s government has described the group, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as a recently founded group with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy” that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

An online post under the same name also claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s stabbing. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said that authorities were investigating whether that claim is credible or “opportunistic.”

Security experts say its claims should be treated with caution, but the U.K. has accused Iran of using criminal proxies to conduct attacks on European soil targeting Iranian opposition media outlets and the Jewish community. Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service says that more than 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year ending in October.

The government said the increased threat level was not solely a result of the Golders Green attack, but also due to increased danger “from Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorist threat from individuals and small groups based in the U.K.”

The threat level stood at severe for much of the time between 2014 and February 2022, when it was lowered to substantial.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of counterterrorism policing at the Metropolitan Police, said "we are seeing an elevated threat to Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions in the U.K. We’re also working against an unpredictable global situation that has consequences closer to home, including physical threats by state linked actors.”

Starmer pledged that the attacks would bring a “swift and visible” criminal justice response. Mahmood said that she's treating antisemitism as “an emergency,” describing it as the top security issue she faced.

The government announced 25 million pounds ($34 million) for more police patrols and protection around synagogues, schools and community centers, and Starmer said that the courts would speed up sentencing on antisemitic attacks as a deterrent.

But some Jews and others say the government has allowed an atmosphere of antisemitism to grow. They say pro-Palestinian protests, held regularly since October 2023, have gone beyond criticism of Israel's actions to foster an atmosphere of intimidation and hatred against Jews.

The protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful, but some say chants such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” incite anti-Jewish hatred. Some protesters have been arrested for displaying support for Hamas, a banned organization in the U.K.

Jonathan Hall, the government’s reviewer of terrorism legislation, called for pro-Palestinian marches to be temporarily banned, saying they had helped “incubate” antisemitism.

The government hasn't backed a ban, but Starmer said that protesters who used the phrase “globalize the intifada” — seen by some as a call for attacks on Jews — should be prosecuted.

Starmer said that the government would fast-track powers “to tackle the malign threat posed by states like Iran — because we know for a fact that they want to harm British Jews."