Based in Columbus, Ga., Aflac (AFL) offers standard life insurance but specializes in supplemental coverage. Some of its policies cover specific diseases like cancer and others cover events like strokes. Some pay medical costs and others provide spending money. The company does business chiefly in Japan and the U.S., two troubled economies of which one, Japan, is fairly saturated with private insurance. Aflac’s specialized products make it more profitable than the average insurer, and the company’s stock price has grown over the past two decades from $2 to $45 despite a long recession in Japan. But then, the stock briefly plunged below $12 earlier this year, because insurers can take a beating in their investment portfolios during economic downturns, which can panic stockholders. Management has lately worked to strengthen the Aflac’s balance sheet and profits are growing nicely at the moment. Barring another financial crisis, the stock seems priced to outperform at less than 10 times earnings with a 2.6% dividend yield.