Sammons(R) Financial Group Member Companies Employee Honored With Patriot Award

SIOUX FALLS, SD--(Marketwired - February 04, 2016) - Steve Bishop, a manager with the Sammons^® Financial Group Member Companies (SFG), has been honored with the Patriot Award by the South Dakota Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense (DOD) office, in recognition of extraordinary support of Courtney Larson, an SFG employee who serves in the South Dakota Guard and Reserve.

The Patriot Award was created to publicly recognize individuals who provide outstanding patriotic support and cooperation to their employees, who, like the citizen warriors before them, have answered their nation's call to serve. Bishop was nominated for being highly supportive of the National Guard by his employee, Specialist (SPC) Courtney Larson, who is with the Army National Guard 196^th MEB unit. Supportive supervisors are critical to maintaining the strength and readiness of the nation's Guard and Reserve units.

"I greatly appreciate Steve's flexibility with my work schedule due to my Guard duty," said Larson. "He never waivers in his support of the role I play with the Army National Guard." This is Larson's first deployment with Bishop as her manager and she has received the utmost support to date.

"Steve is worthy of this great recognition, and through his flexibility and actions has allowed Courtney to serve in the Army National Guard," said Rob TeKolste, president of the Shared Services Division of Sammons Financial Group where both Bishop and Larson work. "This is a real reflection of our culture at Sammons. Employees like Steve and Courtney make us all proud to work for an organization that supports our military and their families."

For more information about ESGR outreach programs, or ESGR volunteer opportunities, please call 1-800-336-4590 or visit www.ESGR.mil.

ABOUT SAMMONS FINANCIAL GROUP
Sammons^® Financial Group, Inc. (SFG), an SEI wholly-owned subsidiary, is the parent of a group of member companies under the insurance Holding Company Act made up of several successful financial services companies offering a variety of financial and retirement products through multiple distribution channels. These consist of retirement products, annuities, variable annuities¹, variable life insurance¹, and life insurance (including bank, corporate, and credit union-owned life insurance). The member companies of SFG include North American Company for Life and Health Insurance^®, Midland National^® Life Insurance Company, including its divisions, Sammons Annuity Group℠ and Sammons Corporate Markets Group^®, Sammons Retirement Solutions® Inc., and Sammons Financial Network^® LLC. For more information, please visit www.sammonsfinancialgroup.com

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