Genworth CEO Resigns

RICHMOND, Va., May 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE:GNW) today announced that Michael D. Fraizer, the company's chairman and chief executive officer, has resigned. The Board has named Martin P. Klein acting chief executive officer and James S. Riepe non-executive chairman of the Board.

Klein has been chief financial officer since May 2011, and he remains in this position. Riepe, a Genworth director since March 2006, has been the lead director since February 2009.

"On behalf of the Board, we thank Mike for his dedication to Genworth and valuable contributions over the years, and we wish him well for the future," Riepe said. "He has led the company before and through its initial public offering by GE in 2004 and through the recent financial and housing crisis. He leaves Genworth with strong, competitive positions in its leadership lines, a sound foundation to build from, dedicated and talented employees, and loyal distributors. We are very pleased that Marty has agreed to serve in this acting role. He brings a good understanding of Genworth's businesses, along with strong leadership skills and analytical insights that the Board believes are important to building on Genworth's successes, while also addressing its challenges. With Marty and the rest of the senior management team, the Board is confident the company will be able to capitalize on its core strengths and successfully rebuild shareholder value."   Riepe added, "The Board will move forward with the search for a permanent CEO in light of its continued review of the business portfolio."  

Fraizer said, "The Genworth team has accomplished much as we built the business and since the company went public in 2004.  After navigating through the recent financial and housing crisis, and as the company transitions to the next generation Genworth, I believe this is the right time for me to move on to other opportunities.  It has been an honor to serve our customers and work with so many talented employees over the years, and I wish them all the very best."

Klein said, "We have a strong team at Genworth and will remain focused on continuing to rebuild shareholder value.  We continue to make progress on initiatives to improve the performance of our businesses, generate and manage capital, and build holding company liquidity.  I look forward to working through this transition with the Board and my Genworth colleagues as we maintain our focus on creating value for our distributors, policyholders, shareholders, and bondholders." 

Klein has been senior vice president—chief financial officer of Genworth Financial since May 2011. He previously served as a managing director and senior relationship manager of Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank, PLC. Prior to that, Klein served as a managing director and head of the Insurance and Pension Solutions Groups at Lehman Brothers, and as president of Lehman Re, a reinsurance subsidiary of Lehman Brothers. He has held various other positions within the insurance industry and is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Riepe is a retired vice chairman and a senior advisor at T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. Prior to joining T. Rowe Price in 1982, Riepe was an executive vice president of the Vanguard Group.

About Genworth Financial
Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) is a leading Fortune 500 insurance holding company dedicated to helping people secure their financial lives, families and futures.  Genworth has leadership positions in offerings that assist consumers in protecting themselves, investing for the future and planning for retirement -- including life insurance, long term care insurance, financial protection coverages, and independent advisor-based wealth management -- and mortgage insurance that helps consumers achieve home ownership while assisting lenders in managing their risk and capital.

Genworth has approximately 6,400 employees and operates through three divisions: Insurance and Wealth Management, which includes U.S. Life Insurance, Wealth Management and International Protection segments; Global Mortgage Insurance, which includes U.S. and International Mortgage Insurance segments; and the Corporate and Runoff division. Its products and services are offered through financial intermediaries, advisors, independent distributors and sales specialists. Genworth Financial, Inc., which traces its roots back to 1871, became a public company in 2004 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. For more information, visit genworth.com. From time to time, Genworth Financial, Inc. releases important information via postings on its corporate website. Accordingly, investors and other interested parties are encouraged to enroll to receive automatic email alerts and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds regarding new postings. Enrollment information is found under the "Investors" section of genworth.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "will" or words of similar meaning and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the outlook for the company's future business and financial performance. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially due to global political, economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory and other factors and risks.  The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

SOURCE Genworth Financial