Citizens, Inc. Vice President of Operations Bryon Matthew Lewis Appointed Chief Operating Officer

Austin, Texas--(Newsfile Corp. - January 30, 2025) - Citizens, Inc. (NYSE: CIA), a leading diversified financial services company specializing in life, living benefits, and final expense insurance, today announced Bryon Matthew Lewis, who serves as Citizens' global Vice President of Operations, is promoted to Chief Operating Officer, a newly created global position effective immediately, reporting to Jon Stenberg, President and Chief Executive Officer. This role will oversee Underwriting, New Business, Claims, and Corporate and Policyholder Services, which are critical activities as we continue delivering our promises to policyholders.

Commenting on the announcement, Jon Stenberg, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "I believe this well-deserved promotion places Matt in a key position that capitalizes on his talents and helps prepare Citizens for the future. Matt has contributed greatly to our company in many ways on our strategic roadmap designed to deliver improved operating results and sustainable growth in book value per share. Matt is an exceptional leader who brings a strong track record of our business success to this new role, developing people and inspiring teams. He is exceptionally qualified to champion the outstanding customer service our policyholders deserve and have come to expect."

Mr. Lewis joined Citizens in 2021 as Vice President of Operations, where he drove business growth and transformation with his expertise in streamlining business processes to deliver on customer value.

Mr. Lewis is an experienced growth leader. He previously served as Director of Information Services-Health Plan at Baylor, Scott & White Health, where he led roadmap integration planning. He served as Assistant Vice President IT Operations at First Care Health Plans. Baylor, Scott & White Health acquired First Care Health Plans in January 2019. He served as Project Engineering Director-Professional Services at E2open. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

About Citizens, Inc.

Citizens, Inc. (NYSE: CIA) is a diversified financial services company providing life, living benefits and final expense insurance and other financial products to individuals and small businesses in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia. Through its customer-centric growth strategy, Citizens offers innovative products to address the evolving needs of its customers in their native languages of English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Mandarin. The Company operates two primary segments: Life Insurance, where internationally the Company is a market leader in U.S. Dollar denominated life insurance and where it is growing in niche markets in the United States through its final expense products distributed through white-label and established distribution channels, and Home Service Insurance, which operates primarily in the U.S. Gulf coast region. For more information about Citizens, please visit the website at www.citizensinc.com and LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which can be identified by words such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate", "believe", "project", "intends," "continue" or comparable words. Such forward-looking statements may relate to the Company's expectations regarding its business performance, operational strategy, capital expenditures, technological changes, regulatory actions, and other financial and operational measures. In addition, all statements other than statements of historical facts that address activities that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those matters expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. The risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are involved in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to the risk factors discussed in our most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. The Company undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or changes in the Company's expectations. Accordingly, you should not unduly rely on these forward-looking statements. The Company also disclaims any duty to comment upon or correct information that may be contained in reports published by the investment community.

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