Genworth Financial is an S&P 400 insurance company. The firm was founded as The Life Insurance Company of Virginia in 1871. In 1986, Life of Virginia was acquired by Combined Insurance, which became Aon plc in 1987. In 1996, Life of Virginia was sold to GE Capital. In May 2004, Genworth Financial was formed out of various insurance businesses of General Electric in the largest IPO of that year. Genworth Financial is incorporated in Virginia. 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
A.G. McIlwaine was the company’s first president. 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. By the turn of the twentieth 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”, 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. 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. 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. 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, formed out of several GE Capital insurance companies. On May 25, 2004, Genworth became a publicly traded company in the largest initial public offering of 2004. GE sold its remaining stake in the company in 2006 for an estimated $2.8 billion. 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 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. In 2009, Genworth held an IPO for its Canadian subsidiary, Genworth MI Canada, on the Toronto Stock Exchange, raising $850 million. 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. This restructuring separated the U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries from the overall firm. On October 24, 2016, China Oceanwide Holdings Group agreed to buy Genworth Financial Inc. for $2.7 billion. In May 2020, National Australia Bank has terminated its deal to acquire insurance for homebuyers from Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia. The industry is vulnerable specifically to the anticipated increase of mortgage borrowers that are unable to reimburse their loan because of work cuts, with Genworth taking a $181.8 million write-down this month of expectation of further mortgages going wrong. On 30 June 2020, Genworth Financial, Inc. has confirmed that it is going ahead with proposals to resolve its short-term commitments and debt responsibilities, while China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co., Ltd. is finalizing the investment strategy for Genworth 's takeover.
Products and services
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. 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. 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. In 2016, the company suspended sales of annuities and life insurance, putting the existing books of business into runoff.
Genworth MI Canada is the Canadian partially-owned subsidiary of Genworth Financial. It is the largest private-sector residential mortgage insurer in Canada. Genworth MI Canada is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, but is majority owned by its US parent.
