Genworth Financial, headquartered in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, is an American

financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

company. It provides

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...

long-term care insurance Long-term care insurance (LTC or LTCI) is an insurance product, sold in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany that helps pay for the costs associated with long-term care. Long-term care insurance covers care generally not covere ...

mortgage insurance Mortgage insurance (also known as mortgage guarantee and home-loan insurance) is an insurance policy which compensates lenders or investors in mortgage-backed securities for losses due to the default of a mortgage loan. Mortgage insurance can be ...

, and

annuities In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals based on a contract with a lump sum of money. Insurance companies are common annuity providers and are used by clients for things like retirement or death benefits. Examples ...

History

The firm was founded as The Life Insurance Company of Virginia in 1871, in

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458 with a majority bla ...

. Within a decade, the company expanded beyond the south and moved its headquarters to Richmond. Beginning with its first annuities business written in 1928, the company grew to offer products for

, lifestyle protection, and

. In 1986, Life of Virginia was acquired by

Combined Insurance Combined Insurance is a global provider of supplemental insurance, including accident insurance, life insurance and critical care coverage. Combined Insurance operates in North America, Latin America, Europe and the Pacific. The company is headq ...

for $557 million. It became Aon in 1987. In 1996, Life of Virginia was acquired by

GE Capital GE Capital was the financial services division of General Electric. Its various units were sold between 2013 and 2021, including the notable spin-off of the North American consumer finance division as Synchrony Financial. Ultimately, only one div ...

. The company was incorporated as Genworth Financial, Inc. in 2003, and it became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

in 2004. GE sold its remaining stake in the company in February 2006 for $2.8 billion. In June 2006, the company agreed to buy AssetMark Investment Services for $230 million. In 2007, another GE Capital insurance company, First Colony Life Insurance Company, merged with the company's life insurance division and became the surviving entity. In May 2007, the company sold its

employee benefits Employee benefits and benefits in kind (especially in British English), also called fringe benefits, perquisites, or perks, include various types of non-wage compensation provided to an employee by an employer in addition to their normal wage o ...

business to

Sun Life Financial Sun Life Financial Inc. is a Canadian financial services company. It is primarily known as a life insurance company. Sun Life has a presence in investment management with over CAD$1.3 trillion in assets under management operating in a number ...

. In July 2007, the company acquired Liberty Reverse Mortgage, a

reverse mortgage A reverse mortgage is a mortgage loan, usually secured by a residential property, that enables the borrower to access the unencumbered value of the property. The loans are typically promoted to older homeowners and typically do not require monthl ...

company, for $50 million. It sold the company to Ocwen for $22 million in April 2013. In September 2007, the company sold its

wealth management Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-hi ...

unit to

private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...

s Aquiline Capital Partners and Genstar Capital Management for $412.5 million. In June 2009, Genworth MI Canada, its Canadian mortgage insurance subsidiary, completed an

on the

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, raising $850 million. In June 2011, the company sold Continental Life Insurance, which provided Medigap insurance policies, to

Aetna Aetna Inc. ( ) is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...

for $290 million. In September 2012, the company sold Genworth Financial Investment Services, its

financial adviser A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

unit, to Cetera Financial Group. In December 2012, Thomas McInerney was named CEO of the company. On April 1, 2013, Genworth announced the completion of a legal entity reorganization, creating a new holding company and separating the U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries. In December 2015, the company sold Genworth Lifestyle Protection Insurance to

Axa Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2024, it is the fourth largest financi ...

for €465 million. In January 2016,

Protective Life Protective Life Corporation is a financial service holding company in Birmingham, Alabama.https://protective.newshq.businesswire.com/sites/protective.newshq.businesswire.com/files/press_kit/file/We_Are_Protective_Life_-_Company_Overview_and_Finan ...

acquired parts of the company for $661 million. In February 2016, the company suspended sales of annuities and life insurance, putting the existing books of business into runoff. In June 2016, the company sold its term life insurance platform to

Pacific Life Pacific Life Insurance Company is an American insurance company. History Pacific Mutual Life was founded in 1868 by former California Governor, Leland Stanford in Sacramento, California. Stanford also was the first policy holder of the company. ...

. In October 2016,

China Oceanwide Holdings Group China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co., Ltd. () known also as China Oceanwide is a Chinese privately owned investment company. It is the parent company of publicly traded company Oceanwide Holdings as well as the largest shareholder of another publi ...

agreed to buy the company for $2.7 billion. However, in April 2021, Genworth terminated the acquisition due to China Oceanwide's inability to close the acquisition. In May 2020, the company's Australian mortgage insurance division, now called Helia, lost its contract with

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank Limited (abbreviated NAB, branded and stylised as nab) is one of the four largest Banking in Australia, financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "Big Four (banking), The Big Four") in terms of mar ...

. In October 2020, Genworth MI Canada was renamed to Sagen MI Canada. In April 2021,

Brookfield Business Partners Brookfield Business Partners L.P. is a publicly traded limited partnership and the primary public vehicle through which Brookfield Corporation, its parent company, owns and operates the business services and industrial operations of its privat ...

acquired all of the outstanding common shares of Sagen that it did not already own. In September 2021, the company completed the

of Enact Holdings, its private mortgage insurance subsidiary.

Legal issues

Shareholder lawsuits

In March 2016, the company settled shareholder lawsuits for $219 million. The lawsuit alleged that Genworth and its management made false statements between October 30, 2013 and November 5, 2014 as the company had assured investors that the reserves it had set aside to cover long-term care claims were adequate. However the company had to take a $531 million charge to shore up its long-term care business, leading to a substantial drop in the price of Genworth's securities.

Life insurance premium increases

In October 2022, the company paid $25 million to policyholders to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that premium increases of 40% to 140% were excessive and unlawful.

MOVEit hack

On June 6, 2023, third-party vendor to Genworth, PBI Research Services, reported a vulnerability with their MOVEit Transfer software. The vulnerability resulted in a Russian-linked extortion group, named 'C, 0p', gaining unlawful access to private data. Whilst PBI Research Services did report the vunlnerability, the company was criticised for not revealing the scope of the hack sooner. The software is used to track deaths of its member organisations so that payments can be issued to the relevant beneficiaries. Whilst a number of state and federal organisations were affected by the hack, between 2.5-2.7 million customers of Genworth Financial had their private data downloaded; including first and last name, date of birth and social security number. On June 22, 2023, Genworth filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the data breach.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2004 initial public offerings Companies based in Richmond, Virginia Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Corporate spin-offs Financial services companies of the United States Financial services companies established in 2004 Life insurance companies of the United States