Mark Goldhaber, the government affairs chief for Genworth Financial, announced his retirement from the firm after 24 years, and immediately launched a new consulting business, Goldhaber Policy Services LLC.
Goldhaber, a lobbyist who was heavily involved in many key mortgage policy issues affecting the industry, was based in Raleigh, N.C., where his new practice will be headquartered. He left Genworth in late April.
Over the past two weeks, Genworth CEO Michael Fraizer and senior vice president/chief investment officer Ronald Joelson also resigned, adding to the brain drain at the company. Their departures came amid declining fortunes in the firm’s Australian mortgage insurance division.
The company, which offers other products besides MI, recently posted a $47 million profit in 1Q. However, its stock is nearing a new 52-week low.
Among U.S. mortgage insurers, Genworth ranks fourth nationwide, according to figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report, but has been losing market share to Radian, United Guaranty and Essent.
Despite all Genworth’s problems, Sandler O’Neill Friday said it is maintaining its “buy” rating on the company. “Going forward, we continue to believe U.S. Mortgage Insurance will be the driver of earnings—for good or for bad. From our perspective, the U.S. Mortgage Insurance business performed better than our expectations and we believe the street's expectations in the first quarter.” (See the weekly edition of NMN Monday for an expanded story on Goldhaber.)
