RICHMOND, Va., Nov 9, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Genworth Financial
(NYSE: GNW) today announced two key appointments in its Mortgage Insurance
segment. Richard Izen has joined the company as Vice President, National
Field Sales, East Division, and Craig Rief has been named Vice President --
Government Agency Business Development.
Izen returns to a business where he was Vice President, Corporate Sales
from 1994 to 1998 for GE Mortgage Insurance, which is now part of Genworth
Financial. He joins a team of seasoned mortgage insurance industry sales
professionals with whom he has worked closely in the past, including Ed
Connors, Vice President, National Field Sales, West Division and Jean Bradley,
Vice President, Corporate Accounts.
Rief, who has led the development of Genworth Financial's HomeOpeners
program, a new suite of mortgage insurance products since 2003, will lead the
commercialization of products and services for federal and state agencies.
Rief will relocate to Genworth Financial's new Washington, DC office to
further strengthen the company's presence and relationship with Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac, the two government-sponsored housing enterprises, as well as with
the 50 state Housing Finance Agencies.
"It's great to have Rich Izen back with us at mortgage insurance, and to
have Craig Rief working full time with federal and state agencies on both
product and sales growth initiatives," said Kevin Schneider, President of
Genworth Financial's U.S. mortgage insurance business. "Their industry
knowledge and experience will be a real asset to our customers as we work with
them to provide the products and services they need even faster and more
effectively."
Prior to joining Genworth Financial, Izen was Vice President of Sales for
Active International, a global trading company that provides trade finance
services and professional expertise. He began his career in the mortgage
insurance industry in 1983 as an account executive with Verex Assurance. He
joined GE Capital Mortgage Insurance in 1987 as an account executive, and
subsequently served as the company's Business Development Manager and Sales
Manager before becoming Vice President of Sales in 1994.
From 1996 to 2001, Rief led various strategic mortgage initiatives within
GE Mortgage Insurance and outside the company at Homestore, Inc. Most
recently, Rief's team won a $900 million bid from the State of New York
(SONYMA) and an exclusive cooperative marketing arrangement with the West
Virginia Housing Development Fund.
Genworth Financial's mortgage insurance business, headquartered in
Raleigh, North Carolina, is the international leader in the field. It has
operations in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. Private
mortgage insurance enables people to realize their dreams of homeownership
sooner by making mortgages with low down payments possible. It protects
lenders or investors against loss if a borrower stops making mortgage
payments, and is generally required for all loans with less than a 20% down
payment.
Genworth Financial is a leading insurance holding company serving the
lifestyle protection, retirement income, investment and mortgage insurance
needs of more than 15 million customers in 20 countries, including the U.S.,
Canada, Australia, and more than a dozen European countries. For more
information, visit http://www.genworth.com.
SOURCE Genworth Financial
Terry Souers, Vice President, Public Relations, Mortgage
Insurance of Genworth Financial, +1-919-846-4459 or
terry.souers@genworth.com
http://www.genworth.com
