Genworth Financial – Wikipedia

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American insurance company

Genworth Financial is an S&P 400 insurance company. The firm was founded as The Life Insurance Company of Virginia in 1871.[5] In 1986, Life of Virginia was acquired by Combined Insurance, which became Aon plc in 1987.[6] In 1996, Life of Virginia was sold to GE Capital.[7] In May 2004, Genworth Financial was formed out of various insurance businesses of General Electric in the largest IPO of that year.[8] Genworth Financial is incorporated in Virginia.[9]

Genworth Financial has three segments: Retirement & Protection, US Mortgage Insurance, and International. Products and services include life and long-term care insurance, mortgage insurance, and annuities.

Company history[edit]

A.G. McIlwaine was the company’s first president.[6] Begun by two dozen Petersburg investors, the Life Insurance Company of Virginia offered its first policies to local customers before expanding to Richmond, Virginia. Under general agent F.W. Chamberlayne, the Richmond Department attracted a large number of new clients. Within the first decade, the client base expanded beyond the South.

As the Life Insurance Company of Virginia grew, the headquarters were moved to Richmond, Virginia.[6] By the turn of the 20th century, the company offered products through different divisions. The “Ordinary Division” of the company offered whole life annuity options and related products, the “Intermediate Division” offered term life products, endowment policies, and limited payment policies, and an industrial division offered inexpensive products.

Colloquially known as “Life of Virginia”,[10] the company expanded its portfolio in the 20th century. Beginning with its first annuities business written in 1928, the company grew to include different mortgage insurance, lifestyle protection, and long-term care products and options.[11]

Over the following decades, the company has undergone several major acquisitions, beginning in 1986 when Life of Virginia was acquired by Combined Insurance for $557 million, which became AON Corporation the following year.[6] In 1995, almost a decade after the acquisition, GE Capital, the financial services unit of General Electric, announced its plan to buy most of AON Corporation’s life insurance business, including Life of Virginia.[12]

Under GE Capital, Life of Virginia became a part of GE Financial Assurance Holdings, Inc., before becoming GE Capital Assurance Company. The company was incorporated as Genworth Financial, Inc. on October 23, 2003,[13] formed out of several GE Capital insurance companies. On May 25, 2004, Genworth became a publicly traded company in the largest initial public offering (IPO) of 2004.[14]

GE sold its remaining stake in the company in 2006 for an estimated $2.8 billion.[15] In 2007, another GE Capital insurance company, First Colony Life Insurance Company, merged with Genworth Life and Annuity Assurance Company, one of the entities within Genworth Financial, Inc, also in 2007, Sun Life Financial bought the Employee Benefits Group (EBG) of Genworth Financial, putting Sun Life Financial on the top market for Employee Benefits programs. As of December 31, 2011, Genworth Financial, Inc. had more than 15 million customers in more than 25 countries.[16]

In 2009, Genworth held an IPO for its Canadian subsidiary, Genworth MI Canada, on the Toronto Stock Exchange, raising $850 million.[17]

On April 1, 2013, Genworth announced the completion of a legal entity reorganization, with the result being the creation of a new ultimate holding company.[18] This restructuring separated the U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries from the overall firm.[18]

On October 24, 2016, China Oceanwide Holdings Group agreed to buy Genworth Financial Inc. for $2.7 billion.[19][20] However, on April 6, 2021, Genworth terminated the acquisition due to China Oceanwide’s inability to finalize the acquisition.[21]

In May 2020, National Australia Bank has terminated its deal to acquire insurance for homebuyers from Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia.[22] On June 30, 2020, Genworth Financial, Inc. confirmed that it is going ahead with proposals to resolve its short-term commitments and debt responsibilities, while China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co., Ltd. (Oceanwide) is finalizing the investment strategy for Genworth’s takeover.[23]

In July 2020, Genworth Financial, Inc. has confirmed the retirement of Kelly L. Groh as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Succeeding Groh will be Dan Sheehan, executive vice president and chief investment officer of Genworth, but she will stay with Genworth for a period of time in an advisory capacity to insure the transition operates smoothly.[24]

Products and services[edit]

Life insurance was the company’s first product. As of December 2013, Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company and Genworth Life Insurance Company had over $728 billion insurance in force.[25]

Genworth Financial offers a range of products and services, including long-term care insurance and mortgage insurance. The long-term care business provides individual long-term care insurance, group long-term care insurance for employers offering benefits to employees, and caregiver support services.[26]

Prior to 2016, the company offered term life insurance, whole life insurance, universal life insurance, and index universal life insurance, as well as annuities, including fixed immediate annuities, traditional fixed deferred annuities, and fixed index annuities.[27][28] In 2016, the company suspended sales of annuities and life insurance, putting the existing books of business into runoff.[29][30]

Securities fraud lawsuits[edit]

On April 14, 2014, a class action lawsuit was commenced the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Genworth for “disseminating false and misleading statements to the investing public.”[31] Another lawsuit was brought in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of investors. On March 14, 2016, the Alberta Investment Management Corporation and the Fresno County Employees’ Retirement Association reached an agreement in principle to recover US$219 million.[32] The lawsuit alleged that Genworth and certain senior executives made false and misleading statements about Genworth’s long-term care insurance business and the company’s financial statements between October 30, 2013, and November 5, 2014.[33]

Genworth MI Canada[edit]

Genworth MI Canada was the Canadian partially-owned subsidiary of Genworth Financial. It is the largest private-sector residential mortgage insurer in Canada (second largest overall, after the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation).[34] On October 13, 2020, Genworth MI Canada was renamed to Sagen MI Canada. Brookfield Business Partners later purchased all of the outstanding common shares of Sagen that were not already owned by Brookfield at a price of $43.50 in cash per Common Share.[35][36] Sagen is now a Canadian company, traded at the Toronto Stock Exchange as TSX:MIC.

References[edit]

  1. ^ “Executive Team”. Genworth Financial, Inc. Newsroom.
  2. ^ “2018 Annual Report – Genworth Financial, Inc” (PDF). Genworth Financial, Inc. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  3. ^ “2018 Annual Report – Genworth Financial, Inc” (PDF). Genworth Financial, Inc. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  4. ^ “Genworth Financial Number of Employees 2006-2020”. www.macrotrends.net/. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  5. ^ “Profile: Genworth Financial Inc (GNW)”. Reuters. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d “A Guide to the Life Insurance Company of Virginia Records, 1871-1920”. Virginia Historical Society. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014.
  7. ^ Quint, Michael (December 27, 1995). “GE Capital To Acquire An Insurer”. New York Times.
  8. ^ “US recorded largest number of IPOs in 2004 since internet bubble”. AltAssets. Investor Networks Limited. March 1, 2005. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  9. ^ “10-K”. 10-K. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  10. ^ “Life Insurance Company of Virginia”. Virginia Historical Society.
  11. ^ “Genworth Financial 10th Anniversary Timeline” (PDF). Genworth Financial. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  12. ^ “GE Capital to Acquire an Insurer”. New York Times. December 27, 1995. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  13. ^ “Genworth Financial Inc”. CNN Money. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  14. ^ “DIGITAL DOMAIN; Google Shmoogle. The Biggest I.P.O’s Went Unnoticed”. New York Times. August 29, 2004. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  15. ^ “GE Sells Remaining $2.8 Billion Genworth Stock”. Bloomberg. February 27, 2006. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  16. ^ “Profile: Genworth Financial Inc (GNW)”. Reuters. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  17. ^ “Genworth launches massive TSX offering”. The Globe and Mail. June 30, 2009. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  18. ^ a b “A.M. Best Revises Outlook to Stable for Genworth Financial, Inc. and Its Key Life/Health Subsidiaries” (Press release). A.M. Best. May 24, 2013. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014.
  19. ^ Carew, Rick (January 19, 2017). “China Oceanwide Consortium Clinches Deal to Buy International Data Group”. The Wall Street Journal. New York. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  20. ^ “EX-99.1”. www.sec.gov.
  21. ^ “Genworth Announces Termination of Merger Agreement with Oceanwide”. Genworth Financial, Inc. Newsroom. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  22. ^ “Genworth loses NAB insurance contract to QBE”. The Sydney Morning Herald. May 20, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  23. ^ “Genworth Announces Merger Agreement Extension to September 30, Steps to Enhance Liquidity”. PR Newswire. June 30, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  24. ^ “Genworth Financial announces new leadership changes”. Reinsurance News. August 18, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  25. ^ “Buying life insurance: It starts here”. Genworth Financial. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  26. ^ “Long Term Care”. Genworth Financial. November 13, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  27. ^ “Prospectuses”. Genworth Financial. August 28, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  28. ^ “Life insurance types and options”. Genworth Financial. September 29, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  29. ^ “Genworth suspends life insurance sales, plans restructuring”. NewsAdvance.com. Richmond Times-Dispatch and Bloomberg News. October 10, 2022.
  30. ^ “Genworth Stops Life, Annuity Sales, May Split”. InsuranceNewsNet. February 5, 2016.
  31. ^ Complaint http://www.classactionsnews.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/Genworth%20Financial%20Securities%20Fraud%20Class%20Action%20Complaint.pdf Archived March 15, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  32. ^ “Genworth Announces Settlement Of Securities Class Action Lawsuit”. Genworth Financial, Inc. Newsroom.
  33. ^ “AIMCo Secures $219 Million Recovery in Genworth”. Alberta Investment Management Corp.
  34. ^ “Genworth hit hard by new mortgage-insurance rules”. The Globe and Mail. August 1, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  35. ^ “Brookfield to acquire mortgage lender Genworth/Sagen”. The Real Estate News Exchange. October 26, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  36. ^ “Sagen MI Canada Inc. and Brookfield Business Partners L.P. Announce Closing of Arrangement Transaction”. Cision. CNW Group Ltd. Retrieved November 23, 2021.

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