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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010

OR

For the transition period from              to             

Commission file number 001-32195

GENWORTH FINANCIAL, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(804) 281-6000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act:

5.25% Series A Cumulative Preferred Stock, Liquidation Preference $50 per share

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x

As of February 10, 2011, 489,888,154 shares of Class A Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share were outstanding.

The aggregate market value of the common equity (based on the closing price of the Class A Common Stock on The New York Stock Exchange) held by non-affiliates of the registrant on June 30, 2010, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $6.4 billion. All executive officers and directors of the registrant have been deemed, solely for the purpose of the foregoing calculation, to be “affiliates” of the registrant.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Certain portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in connection with the 2011 annual meeting of the registrant’s stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K, including Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, 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 our 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, including the items identified under “Item 1A—Risk Factors.”

We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

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PART I

In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, unless the context otherwise requires, “Genworth,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Genworth Financial, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Overview

Genworth Financial, Inc. is a leading financial security company dedicated to providing insurance, wealth management, investment and financial solutions to more than 15 million customers, with a presence in more than 25 countries. Genworth was incorporated in Delaware in 2003 in preparation for an initial public offering of Genworth common stock, which was completed on May 28, 2004 (“IPO”). We are headquartered in Richmond, Virginia and have approximately 6,500 employees.

As a financial security company, we are dedicated to helping meet the life security, retirement security, wealth management and homeownership needs of our customers. Our life security offerings protect people during unexpected events. These life security products and services include our payment protection coverages in Europe, Canada and Mexico, and in the United States, life insurance products, as well as care coordination and wellness services. We help people achieve financial goals and independence by providing retirement security offerings. In the United States, retirement security products include various types of annuity and guaranteed retirement income products, as well as individual and group long-term care and Medicare supplement insurance. We help individuals accumulate and build wealth for financial security in the United States with our wealth management products that include financial planning services and managed accounts. We enable homeownership in the United States and internationally by providing mortgage insurance products that allow people to purchase homes with low down payments while protecting lenders against the risk of default. Through our homeownership education and assistance programs, we also help people keep their homes when they experience financial difficulties. Across all of our businesses, we differentiate through product innovation and by providing valued services such as education and training, wellness programs, support services and technology linked to our insurance, investment and financial products that address both consumer and distributor needs. In doing so, we strive to be easy to do business with and help our business partners grow more effectively.

Our products and services are designed to help consumers meet key financial security needs. Our primary products and related services are targeted at markets that are benefiting from significant demographic, legislative and market trends, including the aging population across the countries in which we operate, and the growing reality that responsibility for building financial security resides primarily with the individual. We distribute our products and services through diversified channels that include financial intermediaries, advisors, independent distributors, affinity groups and dedicated sales specialists. We are committed to our distribution partners and policyholders and continue to invest in key distribution relationships, product innovation and service capabilities.

As of December 31, 2010, we had the following operating segments:

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We also have Corporate and Other activities which include debt financing expenses that are incurred at our holding company level, unallocated corporate income and expenses, eliminations of inter-segment transactions and the results of non-core businesses and non-strategic products that are managed outside of our operating segments. Our non-strategic products include our institutional and corporate-owned life insurance products. Institutional products consist of: funding agreements, funding agreements backing notes (“FABNs”) and guaranteed investment contracts (“GICs”). For the year ended December 31, 2010, Corporate and Other activities had a net loss available to Genworth Financial, Inc.’s common stockholders and a net operating loss available to Genworth Financial, Inc.’s common stockholders of $146 million and $213 million, respectively.

We had $13.9 billion of total Genworth Financial, Inc.’s stockholders’ equity and $112.4 billion of total assets as of December 31, 2010. For the year ended December 31, 2010, our revenues were $10.1 billion and we had net income available to Genworth Financial, Inc.’s common stockholders of $142 million.

Positioning for the Future

We offer a variety of products and services that meet consumers’ financial security needs at various stages of their lives. We focus on those products and services where we have leadership positions or can differentiate based on: product innovation and value; risk expertise; distribution strength; service effectiveness or cost efficiency. Consistent with this strategy, we have concentrated our product and service offerings in our life insurance, long-term care insurance, wealth management, lifestyle protection insurance and mortgage insurance businesses. We also selectively target certain annuity and supplemental protection offerings. As a result, in January 2011, we announced we have discontinued new sales of variable annuity products. This approach is designed to help us achieve growth and create stockholder value through pursuit of the following key initiatives:

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Growth Strategies

Our objectives are to increase revenues and operating income, as well as enhance returns on equity. Our plans to do this are based on the following strategies in each of our segments:

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Retirement and Protection

Through our Retirement and Protection segment, we market various forms of life insurance, long-term care insurance, wealth management, retirement income and supplementary protection products and services.

The following table sets forth financial information regarding our Retirement and Protection segment as of or for the periods indicated. For additional selected financial information and operating performance measures regarding our Retirement and Protection segment as of or for these periods, see “Item 7—Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Retirement and Protection.”

Life insurance

Our life insurance business markets and sells products that provide a personal financial safety net for individuals and their families. These products provide protection against financial hardship after the death of an insured. Some of these products also offer a savings element that can help accumulate funds to meet future financial needs. In 2009, we implemented new marketing strategies and enhanced sales support services and product offerings. A key objective of these efforts was to further assist producers selling to our primary target market of main street consumers, that encompass the middle market and emerging affluent market, who purchase policies with face amounts of $1 million or less. Embedded in these services are a simplified fulfillment process and streamlined underwriting which enable high volume, low-cost processing for policies being sold in these markets. Within our primary target market, we have also launched, and continue to launch, additional products, services and marketing strategies focused on consumers who purchase policies with face amounts in excess of $500,000.

Products

Our current life insurance offerings include universal life and term universal life. We also have runoff blocks of term and whole life insurance. In 2009, we introduced a new term universal life insurance product that was designed to replace new sales of our existing term life insurance products. The term universal life insurance product offers death benefit guarantee premiums that are competitive with traditional term insurance premiums for comparable durations. This product also provides greater flexibility similar to universal life insurance coverage.

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We also offer other universal life insurance products that are designed to provide permanent protection for the life of the insured and may include a buildup of cash value that can be used to meet particular financial needs during the policyholder’s lifetime. Our in-force blocks of term life insurance products provide coverage with guaranteed level premiums for a specified period of time and generally have little or no buildup of cash value.

Underwriting and pricing

Underwriting and pricing are significant drivers of profitability in our life insurance business, and we have established rigorous underwriting and pricing practices. We have generally reinsured risks in excess of $5 million per life. We set pricing assumptions for expected claims, lapses, investment returns, expenses and customer demographics based on our historical experience and other factors.

We target individuals primarily in preferred risk categories, which include healthier individuals who generally have family histories that do not present increased mortality risk. We also have significant expertise in evaluating applicants with health problems and offer appropriately priced coverage based on stringent underwriting criteria.

Distribution

We offer life insurance products through an extensive network of independent brokerage general agencies (“BGAs”) throughout the United States and through financial intermediaries and insurance marketing organizations. We believe there are opportunities to expand our sales in each of these and other distribution channels through additional product offerings, services and marketing strategies.

Competition

Competition in our life insurance business comes from many sources, including traditional insurance companies as well as non-traditional providers, such as banks and structured finance or private equity markets. The life insurance market is highly fragmented. Competitors have multiple access points to the market through BGAs, financial institutions, career sales agents, multi-line exclusive agents, e-retail and other life insurance distributors. We operate primarily in the BGA channel and have built additional capabilities in other channels. We believe our competitive advantage in the life insurance market comes from our long history serving this market, our reputation for service excellence, underwriting expertise and low cost operations.

Long-term care insurance

We established ourselves as a pioneer in long-term care insurance over 35 years ago and remain a leading provider in the industry. Our experience helps us plan for disciplined growth built on a foundation of strong risk management, product innovation, a diversified distribution strategy and claims processing expertise.

Products

Our individual and group long-term care insurance products provide defined levels of protection against the significant and escalating costs of long-term care services provided in the insured’s home or in assisted living or nursing facilities. Insureds become eligible for certain covered benefits if they become incapable of performing certain activities of daily living. In contrast to health insurance, long-term care insurance provides coverage for skilled and custodial care provided outside of a hospital or health-related facility. Long-term care insurance claims typically have a duration of approximately two to four years with an average duration of approximately three years.

We also offer a linked-benefits product for customers who have traditionally self-funded long-term care risk or seek multiple benefits. Our linked-benefits product combines universal life insurance with long-term care

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insurance coverage in a single policy that provides cash value, death benefits and long-term care benefits. In 2011, we will also begin offering access to a Wellness Program designed to promote a healthier lifestyle alternative for our policyholders as part of certain of our individual long-term care insurance products. As a complement to our long-term care insurance offerings, Medicare supplement insurance provides supplemental insurance coverage to seniors who participate in the Medicare program. This product covers deductibles and coinsurance amounts that are not covered by traditional Medicare, which seniors without supplemental coverage would have to pay out-of-pocket. The product design was standardized in 1992 to provide better clarity for seniors and was revised again in 2008 when Congress passed the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act (“MIPPA”). One effect of MIPPA is that all companies underwriting Medicare supplement insurance were required to re-file their products to reflect the new plan and benefit changes in order to continue selling after May 31, 2010. We have obtained approval for our re-filed plans in 38 of 40 states as of December 31, 2010, with the approval in the remaining states still pending.

Underwriting and pricing

We employ extensive medical underwriting policies to assess and quantify risks before we issue our long-term care insurance policies, similar to, but separate from, those we use in underwriting life insurance products.

We have accumulated extensive pricing and claims experience, and believe we have the largest actuarial database in the industry. The overall profitability of our long-term care insurance business depends primarily on the accuracy of our pricing assumptions for claims experience, morbidity and mortality experience, persistency and investment yields. Our actuarial database provides us with substantial data that has helped us develop sophisticated pricing methodologies for our newer policies. We tailor pricing based on segmented risk categories, including marital status, medical history and other factors. Profitability on older policies issued without the full benefit of this experience, particularly with respect to persistency trends, has been lower than initially assumed in pricing of those blocks. We continually monitor trends and developments and update assumptions that may affect the risk, pricing and profitability of our long-term care insurance products and adjust our new product pricing and other terms, as appropriate. We also work with a medical advisory board comprised of independent experts from the medical field that provides insights on emerging morbidity and medical trends, enabling us to be more proactive in our risk segmentation, pricing and product development strategies.

In October 2010, we announced plans to file for a premium rate increase of 18% on two blocks of older long-term care insurance policies. We began filing for the rate changes in November 2010 and the implementation of any rate increase will not begin to take effect until 2011. The state approval process of an in-force rate increase varies, and in certain states can take up to two years to obtain approval. Upon approval, premium increases may only occur on an insured’s policy anniversary date. Therefore, the benefits of any rate increase may not be fully realized until the implementation is complete over the next several years. As of December 31, 2010, these blocks represented approximately $550 million, or 29%, of our total annual long-term care insurance premium in-force. During 2007 and 2008, we filed for state regulatory approvals for a premium rate increase of between 8% and 12% on most of our block of older issued long-term care insurance policies. The rate increase has been fully approved in 45 states with implementation occurring on a staged basis.

Distribution

We have a broad and diverse distribution network for our long-term care insurance products. We distribute our products through diversified sales channels consisting of appointed independent producers, financial intermediaries, dedicated sales specialists and affinity groups. We have made significant investments in our servicing and support for both independent and dedicated sales specialists and we believe our product features, distribution support and services are leading the industry.

In 2007, we entered into a five-year exclusive endorsement agreement with AARP to offer long-term care insurance products to its approximately 40 million members. This relationship includes access to members through our career sales force, as well as telephone, internet and direct mail sales channels.

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Competition

Competition in the long-term care insurance industry is primarily limited to a relatively small number of insurance companies. Our products compete by providing consumers with an array of long-term care coverage solutions, coupled with long-term care support services. We offer a diverse product portfolio with a wide range of price points and benefits designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of the population who are concerned about mitigating the costs of future long-term care needs. We believe our significant historical experience and risk disciplines provide us with a competitive advantage in the form of product features, benefits, support services and pricing.

In the fourth quarter of 2010, one of our competitors announced its intent to exit the long-term care insurance market effective January 1, 2011. In addition, several competitors have announced their intent to seek rate actions on their individual and certain group long-term care insurance products. These announcements by competitors, coupled with our announcement, in October 2010, that we plan to file for a premium rate increase of 18% on two blocks of older long-term care insurance policies, could result in market disruptions, including potential decreases in overall sales of long-term care insurance policies and could cause some existing policyholders to cancel their polices.

Wealth management

We offer a broad array of wealth management solutions to individual investors through financial advisors. We provide an open-architecture product platform along with tailored client advice, asset allocation options, practice management, support services and technology to the financial advisor channel. We are a leading provider in the managed account service provider market, also known as the turnkey asset management platform market. As of September 30, 2010, we were ranked second, based on assets under management, among advisory third-party managed account providers according to the third quarter of 2010 Managed Account Research published by Cerulli Associates (“Cerulli Research”).

On December 31, 2010, we acquired the operating assets of Altegris Capital, LLC (“Altegris”). Altegris, based in La Jolla, California, provides a platform of alternative investments, including hedge funds and managed futures products and had approximately $2.2 billion in client assets as of December 31, 2010. See note 8 in our consolidated financial statements under “Item 8—Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for additional information related to the acquisition.

Products

We work with financial advisors to develop portfolios consisting of individual securities, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and variable annuities designed to meet their client’s particular investment objectives. Generally, clients for these products and services have accumulated significant capital, and our principal asset management strategy is to help protect their assets while taking advantage of opportunities for capital appreciation. Some of our advisory clients also use the custodial services of our trust company, Genworth Financial Trust Company.

Through our open-architecture platform, we offer to financial advisors one of the most comprehensive fee-based investment management platforms in the industry, access to custodians, client relationship management tools and business development programs, to enable these retail financial advisors to offer institutional caliber services to their clients. Genworth Financial Wealth Management, Inc. serves as investment advisor to the AssetMark Funds, the Genworth Financial Contra Fund and the Genworth Variable Insurance Trust. The AssetMark Funds and the Genworth Financial Contra Fund are mutual funds offered to clients of financial advisors. Funds in the Genworth Variable Insurance Trust are open-end mutual funds available in separate accounts of our variable annuity products.

Additionally, through our retail broker/dealer, we offer annuity and insurance products, including our proprietary products, as well as third-party mutual funds, insurance and other investment products.

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Distribution

We distribute these products and services through independent investment advisory professionals and financial professionals affiliated with our retail broker/dealer.

Competition

We compete primarily in the managed account service provider market, including both mutual fund and separate account offerings. The market is highly competitive, and is differentiated by advisor profile and service. The ten largest companies in the advisory third-party managed account provider market, otherwise known as the turnkey asset management platform, comprise approximately 94% of assets under management in this sector as of September 30, 2010 according to Cerulli Research. Our broker/dealer and its related investment advisory businesses also compete in the independent broker/dealer market, primarily working with advisors who are also accountants and tax preparers.

Retirement income

We are focused on helping individuals create dependable income streams for life or for a specified period of time and helping them save and invest to achieve financial goals. We believe our product designs, investment strategy requirements, hedging disciplines and use of reinsurance reduce some of the risks to insurers that generally accompany traditional products with guaranteed minimum death benefits (“GMDBs”), guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits (“GMWBs”) and certain types of guaranteed annuitization benefits. In January 2011, we announced we are discontinuing new sales of retail and group variable annuities while continuing to service our existing blocks of business. We will continue to offer products designed to meet the retirement income needs of individuals through our fixed annuity offerings.

Fee-based products

Variable annuities and variable life insurance

Our variable annuities provide customers with a variety of investment options in a separate account format. The contractholder bears the risk associated with the performance of investments in the separate account. In addition, some of our variable annuities permit customers to allocate assets to a guaranteed interest account managed within our general account. Our variable annuity products enable consumers to opt for lifetime guaranteed income.

Variable annuities generally provide us fees including mortality and expense risk charges and, in some cases, administrative charges. The fees equal a percentage of the contractholder’s policy account value and as of December 31, 2010, range from 0.75% to 4.05% per annum depending on the features and options within a contract.

Our variable annuity contracts generally provide a basic GMDB which provides a minimum account value to be paid upon the annuitant’s death. Contractholders may also have the option to purchase riders that provide enhanced death benefits. Assuming every annuitant died on December 31, 2010, as of that date, contracts with death benefit features not covered by reinsurance had an account value of $7,707 million and a related death benefit exposure, or net amount at risk, of $338 million.

Some of our variable annuity products provide the contractholder with a guaranteed minimum income stream that they cannot outlive, along with an opportunity to participate in market appreciation.

Distribution

We have distributed our variable annuity products through banks, national brokerage firms and independent broker/dealers. We also distributed our group variable annuity product through broker/dealers and through defined contribution plan record keepers.

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Spread-based products

Fixed annuities

We offer fixed single premium deferred annuities which require a single premium payment at time of issue and provide an accumulation period and an annuity payout period. The annuity payout period in these products may be defined as either a defined number of years, the annuitant’s lifetime or the longer of a defined number of years or the annuitant’s lifetime. During the accumulation period, we credit the account value of the annuity with interest earned at a crediting rate guaranteed for no less than one year at issue, but which may be guaranteed for up to five years, and thereafter is subject to annual crediting rate resets at our discretion. The rate credited is based upon competitive factors and prevailing market rates, subject to statutory and contractual minimums. The majority of our fixed annuity contractholders retain their contracts for five to ten years.

Single premium immediate annuities

In exchange for a single premium, immediate annuities provide a fixed amount of income for either a defined number of years, the annuitant’s lifetime or the longer of a defined number of years or the annuitant’s lifetime.

Structured settlements

Structured settlement annuity contracts provide an alternative to a lump sum settlement, generally in a personal injury lawsuit or workers compensation claim, and typically are purchased by property and casualty insurance companies for the benefit of an injured claimant. The structured settlements provide scheduled payments over a fixed period or, in the case of a life-contingent structured settlement, for the life of the claimant with a guaranteed minimum period of payments. In 2006, we discontinued sales of our structured settlement annuities while continuing to service our retained and reinsured blocks of business.

Distribution

We distribute our spread-based products through BGAs, independent broker/dealers and select banks and national brokerage and financial firms.

Competition

We compete with a large number of life insurance companies in the single premium immediate annuity marketplace. We continue to see long-term growth prospects for single premium immediate annuities based on demographics. We believe long-term experience with mortality and longevity risk, combined with overall risk management disciplines, contribute to competitiveness in how we segment and price our products for our targeted markets.

Sales of fixed annuities are strongly linked to current interest rates, which affect the relative competitiveness of alternative products, such as certificates of deposit and money market funds. We have experienced fluctuations in sales levels for this product and expect these fluctuations to continue in the future based on changes in the level of interest rates and other factors including our ability to achieve desired targeted returns.

International

In our International segment, we offer mortgage insurance and lifestyle protection insurance and have a presence in over 25 countries.

Through our international mortgage insurance business, we are a leading provider of mortgage insurance in Canada, Australia, Mexico and multiple European countries. We expanded our international operations beginning in the mid-1990s and, today, we believe we are the largest overall provider of private mortgage insurance outside of the United States.

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Private mortgage insurance enables borrowers to buy homes with low-down-payment mortgages, which are usually defined as loans with a down payment of less than 20% of the home’s value. Low-down-payment mortgages are also referred to as high loan-to-value mortgages. Mortgage insurance protects lenders against loss in the event of a borrower’s default. It also generally aids financial institutions in managing their capital by reducing the capital required for low-down-payment mortgages. If a borrower defaults on mortgage payments, private mortgage insurance reduces and may eliminate losses to the insured institution. Private mortgage insurance may also facilitate the sale of mortgage loans in the secondary mortgage market.

Our lifestyle protection insurance business helps consumers meet payment obligations on outstanding financial commitments, such as mortgages, personal loans, credit cards or other forms of committed payments, in the event of misfortune such as illness, accident, involuntary unemployment, disability or death. In addition, we offer certain coverages related to critical illness events and gaps associated with deductibles on other insurance policies.

The following table sets forth financial information regarding our International segment as of or for the periods indicated. Additional selected financial information and operating performance metrics regarding our International segment as of or for these periods are included under “Item 7—Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—International.”

International mortgage insurance

We have significant mortgage insurance operations in Canada and Australia, two of the largest markets for mortgage insurance products outside of the United States, as well as smaller operations in New Zealand and developing mortgage insurance markets such as Europe and Mexico.

The mortgage loan markets in Canada and Australia are well developed, and mortgage insurance plays an important role in each of these markets. However, these markets vary significantly and are influenced by different economic, public policy, regulatory, distributor, credit and cultural conditions.

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We believe the following factors have contributed to the growth of mortgage insurance demand in these countries:

Based upon our experience in these mature markets, we believe a favorable regulatory framework is important to the development of high loan-to-value lending and the use of products such as mortgage insurance to protect against default risk or to obtain capital relief. As a result, we have advocated government and policymaking agencies throughout our markets to adopt legislative and regulatory policies supporting increased homeownership and the use of private mortgage insurance. We have significant expertise in mature markets, and we leverage this experience in selected developing markets to encourage regulatory authorities to implement incentives to use private mortgage insurance as an important element of their housing finance systems.

We believe the revisions to a set of regulatory rules and procedures governing global bank capital standards that were introduced by the Basel Committee of the Bank for International Settlements, recently revised to strengthen regulatory capital requirements for banks and now referred to as Basel III, also may encourage further use of mortgage insurance as a risk and capital management tool in international markets. While Basel III was issued in December 2010, its adoption by individual countries internationally and in the United States has only begun. Changes in national implementation could occur which might aid or detract from future demand for mortgage insurance.

Mortgage insurance in our International segment is predominantly single premium and provides 100% coverage in the two largest markets of Canada and Australia. With single premium policies, the premium is usually included as part of the aggregate loan amount and paid to us as the mortgage insurer. We record the proceeds to unearned premium reserves, invest those proceeds and recognize the premiums over time in accordance with the expected pattern of risk emergence.

Canada

We entered the Canadian mortgage insurance market in 1995 and now operate in every province and territory. We are currently the leading private mortgage insurer in the Canadian market. The five largest mortgage originators in Canada provide the majority of the financing for residential mortgage financing in that country. Mortgages provided by these five lenders in Canada accounted for the majority of our flow new insurance written in 2010.

In July 2009, Genworth MI Canada Inc. (“Genworth Canada”), our indirect subsidiary, completed the initial public offering (the “Offering”) of its common shares. Following completion of the Offering, we beneficially owned 57.5% of the common shares of Genworth Canada. In August 2010, Genworth Canada repurchased 12.3 million common shares through a substantial issuer bid. Brookfield Life Assurance Company Limited, our indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, participated in the issuer bid by making a proportionate tender and continues to hold approximately 57.5% of the outstanding common shares of Genworth Canada. See note 24 in our consolidated financial statements under “Item 8—Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for additional information related to these offerings.

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Products

We offer primary flow insurance and portfolio credit enhancement insurance. Regulations in Canada require the use of mortgage insurance for all mortgage loans extended by federally incorporated banks, trust companies and insurers, where the loan-to-value ratio exceeds 80%.

We also provide portfolio credit enhancement insurance to lenders that have originated loans with loan-to-value ratios of less than or equal to 80%. These policies provide lenders with immediate capital relief from applicable bank regulatory capital requirements and facilitate the securitization of mortgages in the Canadian market. In both primary flow insurance and portfolio policies, our mortgage insurance in Canada provides insurance coverage for the entire unpaid loan balance, including interest, selling costs and expenses, following the sale of the underlying property.

Government guarantee

We have an agreement with the Canadian government (the “Government Guarantee Agreement”) under which it guarantees the benefits payable under a mortgage insurance policy, less 10% of the original principal amount of an insured loan, in the event that we fail to make claim payments with respect to that loan because of insolvency. We pay the Canadian government a risk premium for this guarantee and make other payments to a reserve fund in respect of the government’s obligation. Because banks are not required to maintain regulatory capital on an asset backed by a sovereign guarantee, our 90% sovereign guarantee permits lenders purchasing our mortgage insurance to reduce their regulatory capital charges for credit risks on mortgages by 90%. Our primary government-sponsored competitor receives a 100% sovereign guarantee.

In July 2008, the Canadian government publicly announced adjustments to the rules for government guaranteed mortgages, including reducing the maximum amortization period to 35 years, requiring a minimum down payment of five percent and establishing a consistent minimum credit score. We incorporated these adjustments into our underwriting guidelines effective October 15, 2008. At the same time, the Canadian government sought changes to the Government Guarantee Agreement to incorporate these adjustments and to introduce other changes to modernize the Government Guarantee Agreement. In January 2010, the foregoing revisions to the Government Guarantee Agreement were formalized in an amendment to the Government Guarantee Agreement (the “Amendment”). Additionally, a provision was included in the Amendment that allows the government to implement industry-wide policy changes to mortgages that benefit from a government guarantee.

In April 2010, the Canadian government implemented additional changes to the rules for government guaranteed mortgages which (i) require that all borrowers seeking mortgages of a term less than five years or seeking a variable rate mortgage must qualify at the rate posted by the Bank of Canada for five-year fixed rate mortgages, (ii) lower the maximum amount borrowers can withdraw in refinancing their mortgages to 90% from 95% of the value of their homes, and (iii) require a minimum down payment of 20% on non-owner-occupied properties. These rules were formalized in an amendment to the Government Guarantee Agreement. In January 2011, the Canadian government announced additional changes to the rules for government guaranteed mortgages which (i) reduce the maximum amortization period to 30 years from 35 years for high loan-to-value mortgages, effective March 18, 2011, (ii) lower the maximum amount borrowers can withdraw in refinancing their mortgages to 85%, from 90%, of the value of their homes, effective March 18, 2011, and (iii) eliminate mortgage insurance on mortgages that do not have scheduled principal and interest payments (e.g. lines of credit), effective April 18, 2011. These rules will be formalized in an amendment to the Government Guarantee Agreement. The Canadian Department of Finance has informed us that they intend to continue to review the Government Guarantee Agreement we have with the Canadian government, and we remain engaged in ongoing discussions with Department of Finance officials on this matter. Although we believe the Canadian government will preserve the Government Guarantee Agreement in order to maintain competition in the Canadian mortgage industry, we cannot be sure what, if any, further changes will be made to the terms of the Government Guarantee Agreement.

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Competition

Our primary mortgage insurance competitor in Canada is the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (“CMHC”) which is owned by the Canadian government, although we have one other competitor in the Canadian market. CMHC’s mortgage insurance provides lenders with 100% capital relief from bank regulatory requirements. We compete with CMHC primarily based upon our reputation for high quality customer service, quick decision making on insurance applications, strong underwriting expertise, flexibility in product development and provision of support services. As a result of the turmoil in the financial markets and tightened underwriting guidelines in 2009, there had been an increased preference by lenders for CMHC insurance, which carries a lower capital charge and a 100% government guarantee, as compared to loans covered by our policy which benefits from a 90% government guarantee. However, in 2010, this increased preference for CMHC insurance has moderated as financial markets stabilized.

Australia

We entered the Australian mortgage insurance market in 1997 and the New Zealand mortgage insurance market in 1999. In 2010, we were the leading provider of mortgage insurance in Australia based upon flow new insurance written. We maintain strong relationships within the major bank and regional bank channels, as well as building societies, credit unions and non-bank mortgage originators called mortgage managers. As a result of the financial turmoil and associated liquidity crunch in 2009, funding for the regional banks and non-bank originators was very limited or not available, with most of their origination volume shifting to the major banks. As a result of the volume shift to major banks, the four largest mortgage originators in Australia provide the majority of the financing for residential mortgage financing in that country. Our two largest lender relationships in Australia provided the majority of our flow new insurance written in 2010 while we continue to serve multiple mortgage originators and target other expanded distribution relationships.

Products

In Australia and New Zealand, we offer primary flow mortgage insurance, also known as lenders mortgage insurance (“LMI”), and portfolio credit enhancement policies. Our principal product is LMI which is similar to single premium primary flow insurance we offer in Canada with 100% coverage. Lenders either collect the single premium from borrowers at the time the loan proceeds are advanced or capitalize it in the loan and remit the amount to us as the mortgage insurer.

We provide LMI on a flow basis to our customers. Banks, building societies and credit unions generally acquire LMI only for residential mortgage loans with loan-to-value ratios above 80%. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (“APRA”) regulations for approved deposit-taking institutions (“ADIs”) provide reduced capital requirements for high loan-to-value residential mortgages if they have been insured by a mortgage insurance company regulated by APRA. APRA’s license conditions require Australian mortgage insurance companies, including ours, to be monoline insurers, which are insurance companies that offer just one type of insurance product.

We also provide portfolio credit enhancement policies to APRA-regulated lenders who intend to securitize Australian residential loans they have originated. Portfolio mortgage insurance serves as an important source of credit enhancement for the Australian securitization market, and our portfolio credit enhancement coverage generally is purchased for low loan-to-value, seasoned loans written by APRA-regulated institutions. To date, a market for these portfolio credit enhancement policies has not developed in New Zealand to the same extent as in Australia.

Competition

The Australian and New Zealand flow mortgage insurance markets are primarily served by one other private LMI company, as well as various lender-affiliated captive mortgage insurance companies. We compete primarily

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based upon our reputation for high quality customer service, quick decision making on insurance applications, strong underwriting expertise and flexibility in terms of product development and provision of support services.

Europe and other international

We began our European operations in the United Kingdom, which is Europe’s largest market for mortgage loan originations and over time have expanded our presence to seven additional countries. Since 2009, we have reduced our risk in-force in Europe, which has been primarily driven by reductions in Spain as a result of our loss mitigation activities. In 2010, we were a leading private mortgage insurance provider in Europe, based upon flow new insurance written. We also have a presence in the developing private mortgage insurance market in Mexico and selectively assess other markets.

Products

Our mortgage insurance products in Europe consist principally of primary flow insurance with single premium payments. Our primary flow insurance generally provides first-loss coverage in the event of default on a portion (typically 10% to 20%) of the balance of an individual mortgage loan. We also offer portfolio credit enhancement to facilitate the securitization of mortgage loans.

Competition

Our competition in Europe includes both public and private entities, including traditional insurance companies, as well as providers of alternative credit enhancement products and public mortgage guarantee facilities. Competition from alternative credit enhancement products include personal guarantees on high loan-to-value loans, second mortgages and bank guarantees, captive insurance companies organized by lenders, and alternative forms of risk transfer including capital markets solutions. We believe that our global expertise and coverage flexibility differentiate us from competitors and alternative products.

International mortgage insurance underwriting and pricing

Loan applications for all loans we insure are reviewed to evaluate each individual borrower’s credit strength and history, the characteristics of the loan and the value of the underlying property. The credit strength of a borrower is evaluated by reviewing his or her credit history and credit score. Unlike in the United States where Fair Isaac Company (“FICO”) credit scores are broadly used, credit scores are not available in all countries. In countries, such as Canada, where scores are available, they are included in the underwriting guidelines used to evaluate the loan. Internal mortgage scoring models are also used in the underwriting processes of Canada and Australia. In addition, risk rules models, such as Blaze Advisor ^®, are used in Australia and Mexico to enhance the underwriter’s ability to evaluate the loan risk and make consistent underwriting decisions. Additional tools used by our international businesses include automated valuation models to evaluate property risk and fraud application prevention and management tools such as ModelMax^® in Australia and Citadel^TM in Canada.

Loan applications for flow mortgage insurance are reviewed by our employees or by employees of qualified mortgage lender customers who underwrite loan applications for mortgage insurance under a delegated underwriting program. This delegated underwriting program permits approved lenders to commit us to insure loans using underwriting guidelines we have previously approved. Each of our mortgage insurance platforms has established an audit plan to review delegated underwritten loans to ensure compliance with the approved underwriting guidelines, operational procedures and master policy requirements. Statistically valid samples of performing loans are requested and reviewed by our audit teams. Once an audit review has been completed, findings are summarized and compared to targets. If noncompliance issues are detected, we work with the lender to develop appropriate corrective actions which may include rescinding coverage on non-compliant loans or discontinuing delegated underwriting.

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When underwriting bulk insurance transactions, we evaluate characteristics of the loans in the portfolio and examine loan files on a sample basis. Each bulk transaction is assigned an overall claim rate based on a weighted-average of the expected claim rates for each stratified group of loans with similar characteristics that comprises the transaction.

Since 2009, we have taken additional actions to reduce our new business risk profile, which included: tightening underwriting guidelines, including product restrictions, reducing new business in geographic areas we believe are more economically sensitive, and terminating commercial relationships as a result of weaker business performance. We have also increased prices in certain markets based on periodic reviews of product performance. We believe these underwriting and pricing actions have improved our underwriting actual and expected performance on new books of business and have reduced the levels of new insurance written to some extent.

Loss mitigation

Each of our mortgage insurance platforms works closely with lenders to identify delinquent borrowers. When a delinquency is identified as needing more than basic collections, we will work with the lender and borrower to identify an optimal loan workout solution. If it is determined that the borrower has the capacity to make a modified mortgage payment, we will work with the lender to implement the most appropriate payment plan to address the borrower’s hardship situation. If the borrower does not have the capacity to make payments on a modified loan, we work with the lender and borrower to sell the property at the best price to minimize the severity of our claim and provide the borrower with a reasonable resolution.

After a delinquency is reported to us, or after a claim is received, we review, and where appropriate conduct further investigations, to determine if there has been an event of underwriting non-compliance, non-disclosure of relevant information or any misrepresentation of information provided during the underwriting process. Our master policies provide that we may rescind coverage if there has been any failure to comply with agreed underwriting criteria or in the event of fraud or misrepresentation involving the lender or an agent of the lender. If such issues are identified, the claim or delinquent loan file is reviewed to determine the appropriate action, including potentially reducing the claim amount to be paid or rescinding the coverage. Generally, the issues we have initially identified are reviewed with the lender and the lender has an opportunity, typically 60 days, to provide further information or documentation. If such information or documentation is not provided or does not resolve the findings, we may reduce the claim amount or rescind the coverage as described above.

We may also review a group or portfolio of insured loans if we believe there may be systemic misrepresentations or noncompliance issues. If such issues are detected, we generally will work with the lender to develop an agreed settlement in respect of the group of loans so identified or, if such discussions fail to result in an agreed settlement, the lender may institute arbitration or other legal proceedings with respect to the loans for which we have rescinded or reduced coverage that are subject to the dispute.

International mortgage insurance distribution

We maintain a dedicated sales force that markets our mortgage insurance products internationally to lenders. As in the U.S. market, our sales force markets to financial institutions and mortgage originators, who in turn offer mortgage insurance products to borrowers.

Lifestyle protection insurance

We currently provide lifestyle protection insurance that is principally offered by financial services companies at the point of sale of consumer products and we have a presence in more than 20 countries. We expect to selectively expand our lifestyle protection insurance business through entry into certain new markets, further penetration of existing distribution relationships, participation in additional distribution channels and introduction of new products. In Europe, we are a leading provider of lifestyle protection insurance.

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Products and services

Our lifestyle protection insurance products include primarily protection from illness, accident, involuntary unemployment, disability and death. The benefits on these policies pay the periodic payments on a consumer loan or other form of committed payment for a limited period of time, typically 12 months, though they can be up to 84 months. In some cases, for certain coverages, we may make lump sum payments. Our policies include an exclusion period that is usually 60 days and a waiting period (time between claim submission and claim payment) of typically 30 days. Our policies either require an upfront single premium or monthly premiums.

We also provide third-party administrative services and administer non-risk premium with some relationships in Europe. Additionally, we have entered into structured portfolio transactions, covering Canadian and European risk.

Underwriting and pricing

Our lifestyle protection insurance products are currently underwritten and priced on a program basis, by type of product and by distributor, rather than on an individual policyholder basis. In setting prices and in some cases the nature of coverage offered, we take into account the underlying obligation, the particular product features and the average customer profile of a given distributor. For our monthly premium policies, most contracts allow for monthly price adjustments after consultation with our distribution partners which help us to reduce our business risk profile when there are adverse changes in the market. Additionally, certain of our distribution contracts provide for profit or loss sharing with our distribution partners, which provide our business and our distribution partners with risk protection and aligned economic interests over the life of the contract. We believe our experience in underwriting allows us to provide competitive pricing to distributors and generate targeted returns and profits for our business.

Distribution

We distribute our lifestyle protection insurance products primarily through financial institutions, including major European banks, that offer our insurance products in connection with underlying loans or other financial products they sell to their customers. Under these arrangements, the distributors typically take responsibility for branding and marketing the products, while we take responsibility for pricing, underwriting and claims payment.

We continue to implement innovative methods for distributing our lifestyle protection insurance products, including web-based tools that provide our distributors with a cost-effective means of applying our products to a broad range of underlying financial obligations. We believe these methods also make it easier to establish arrangements with new distributors, as well as help us further diversify our distribution and geographical channels in a dynamic market environment.

Competition

The lifestyle protection insurance market has several large, international participants, including both captive insurers of large financial institutions and independent providers. We compete through our high service levels, depth of expertise in providing tailored product and service solutions and our ability to service global clients at a local level and across multiple countries.

U.S. Mortgage Insurance

Through our U.S. Mortgage Insurance segment, we provide private mortgage insurance. Private mortgage insurance enables borrowers to buy homes with low-down-payment mortgages, which are usually defined as loans with a down payment of less than 20% of the home’s value. Low-down-payment mortgages are sometimes also referred to as high loan-to-value mortgages. Mortgage insurance protects lenders against loss in the event of a borrower’s default. It also generally aids financial institutions in managing their capital efficiently by reducing the capital required for low-down-payment mortgages. If a borrower defaults on mortgage payments, private

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mortgage insurance reduces and may eliminate losses to the insured institution. Private mortgage insurance may also facilitate the sale of mortgage loans in the secondary mortgage market.

We have been providing mortgage insurance products and services in the United States since 1981 and operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Our principal mortgage insurance customers are originators of residential mortgage loans who typically determine which mortgage insurer or insurers they will use for the placement of mortgage insurance written on loans they originate.

The U.S. private mortgage insurance industry is defined in part by the requirements and practices of Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”) and other large mortgage investors. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase residential mortgages from mortgage lenders and investors, as part of their governmental mandate to provide liquidity in the secondary mortgage market. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased approximately 63% for the year ended December 31, 2010 and approximately 70% and 60% for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively, of all the mortgage loans originated in the United States, according to statistics published by Inside Mortgage Finance. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-sponsored enterprises, and we refer to them as the “GSEs.” Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s mortgage insurance requirements include specified insurance coverage levels and minimum financial strength ratings. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac typically require maintenance of a rating by at least two out of three listed rating agencies (Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”), Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) and Moody’s Investors Service Inc. (“Moody’s”)) of at least “AA-”/“Aa3” (as applicable), with no rating below those levels by any of the three listed rating agencies; otherwise, additional limitations or requirements may be imposed for eligibility to insure loans purchased by the GSEs. In February 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac temporarily suspended automatic imposition of the additional requirements otherwise applicable upon a ratings downgrade below the above-described requirements, subject to certain specified conditions. Since 2009, we have held ongoing discussions with the GSEs regarding these requirements.

The GSEs may purchase mortgages with unpaid principal amounts up to a specified maximum, or the “conforming loan limit,” which is currently $417,000 and subject to annual adjustment. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 permits the GSEs to purchase loans in excess of the $417,000 limit in certain high-cost areas of the country. For 2010, the limit in those areas is 125% of median home price for the area, but no more than $729,750. Each GSE’s Congressional charter generally prohibits it from purchasing a mortgage where the loan-to-value ratio exceeds 80% of home value unless the portion of the unpaid principal balance of the mortgage, which is in excess of 80% of the value of the property securing the mortgage, is protected against default by lender recourse, participation or by a qualified insurer. As a result, high loan-to-value mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac generally are insured with private mortgage insurance. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased the majority of the flow loans we insured as of December 31, 2010.

The following table sets forth selected financial information regarding our U.S. Mortgage Insurance segment as of or for the periods indicated. Additional selected financial information and operating performance measures regarding our U.S. Mortgage Insurance segment as of or for these periods are included under “Item 7—Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—U.S. Mortgage Insurance.”

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Products and services

The majority of our U.S. mortgage insurance policies provide default loss protection on a portion (typically 10% to 40%) of the balance of an individual mortgage loan. Our primary mortgage insurance policies are predominantly “flow” insurance policies, which cover individual loans at the time the loan is originated. We also enter into “bulk” insurance transactions with lenders and investors in selected instances, under which we insure a portfolio of loans for a negotiated price.

In addition to flow and bulk primary mortgage insurance, we have written a limited amount of mortgage insurance on a pool basis. Under pool insurance, the mortgage insurer provides coverage on a group of specified loans, typically for 100% of all losses on every loan in the portfolio, subject to an agreed aggregate loss limit.

Flow insurance

Flow insurance is primary mortgage insurance placed on an individual loan when the loan is originated. Our primary mortgage insurance covers default risk on first mortgage loans generally secured by one- to four-unit residential properties and can be used to protect mortgage lenders and investors from default on any type of residential mortgage loan instrument that we have approved. Our insurance covers a specified coverage percentage of a “claim amount” consisting of unpaid loan principal, delinquent interest and certain expenses associated with the default and subsequent foreclosure. As the insurer, we are generally required to pay the coverage percentage of a claim amount specified in the primary policy, but we also have the option to pay the lender an amount equal to the unpaid loan principal, delinquent interest and certain expenses incurred with the default and foreclosure, and acquire title to the property. In addition, the claim amount may be reduced or eliminated if the loss on the defaulted loan is reduced as a result of the lender’s disposition of the property. The lender selects the coverage percentage at the time the loan is originated, often to comply with investor requirements to reduce the loss exposure on loans purchased by the investor. Our master policies require that loans be underwritten to approved guidelines and provide for cancellation of coverage and return of premium for material breach of obligations. Our master policies generally do not extend to or cover material breach of obligations and misrepresentations known to the insured or specified agents. From time to time, based on various factors, we request loan files to verify compliance with our master policies and required procedures. Where our review and any related investigation establish material noncompliance or misrepresentation or there is a failure to deliver complete loan files as required, we rescind coverage with a return of all premiums paid.

In connection with flow insurance, we perform fee-based contract underwriting services for certain mortgage lenders. The provision of underwriting services by mortgage insurers eliminates the duplicative lender and mortgage insurer underwriting activities and speeds the approval process. Under the terms of our contract underwriting agreements, we agree to indemnify the lender against losses incurred in the event we make material errors in determining whether loans processed by our contract underwriters meet specified underwriting or purchase criteria, subject to contractual limitations on liability.

In the United States, we have entered into a number of reinsurance agreements in which we share portions of our flow mortgage insurance risk written on loans originated or purchased by lenders with captive reinsurers affiliated with these lenders. In return, we cede a predetermined portion of our gross premiums on insurance written to the captive reinsurers. Substantially all of our captive mortgage reinsurance arrangements are structured on an excess of loss basis. In February 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced a change to its eligibility rules limiting captive reinsurance arrangements to those where premiums ceded do not exceed 25% of gross premiums. As of December 31, 2010, our total mortgage insurance risk in-force reinsured to all captive reinsurers was $1.4 billion, and the total capital held in trust for our benefit by all captive reinsurers was $0.8 billion. These captive reinsurers are not rated, and their claims-paying obligations to us are secured by an amount of capital held in trust as determined by the underlying treaties. As of December 31, 2010 and 2009, we recorded a reinsurance recoverable of $351 million and $673 million, respectively, under these captive reinsurance arrangements. We have exhausted certain captive reinsurance tiers for our 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 book years based on worsening loss development trends. Once the captive reinsurance or trust assets are exhausted, we are

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responsible for any additional losses incurred. We have begun to experience constraints on the recognition of captive benefit recovery due to the amount of funds held in certain captive trusts and the exhaustion of captive loss tiers for certain reinsurers. As of January 1, 2009, we no longer participate in excess of loss captive reinsurance transactions and we will only participate in quota share reinsurance arrangements. The majority of our excess of loss captive reinsurance arrangements are in runoff with no new books of business being added going forward; however, we will continue to benefit from captive reinsurance on our 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 books of business. New insurance written through the bulk channel generally is not subject to these arrangements.

The following table sets forth selected financial information regarding our captive reinsurance arrangements as of or for the periods indicated:

Bulk insurance

Under primary bulk insurance, we insure a portfolio of loans in a single, bulk transaction. Generally, in our bulk insurance, the individual loans in the portfolio are insured to specified levels of coverage and there may be deductible provisions and aggregate loss limits applicable to all of the insured loans. In addition, loans that we insure in bulk transactions with loan-to-value ratios above 80% typically have flow mortgage insurance, written either by us or another private mortgage insurer, which helps mitigate our exposure under these transactions. We base the premium on our bulk insurance upon our evaluation of the overall risk of the insured loans included in a transaction and we negotiate the premium directly with the securitizer or other owner of the loans. Premiums for bulk transactions generally are paid monthly by lenders, investors or a securitization vehicle in connection with a securitization transaction or the sale of a loan portfolio. Prior to 2006, the majority of our bulk insurance business was related to loans financed by lenders who participated in the mortgage programs sponsored by the Federal Home Loan Banks (“FHLBs”). Beginning in 2006, we selectively increased our participation in the GSE low documentation, or Alt-A, programs and began to provide bulk insurance on lender portfolios, a substantial portion of which was comprised of low loan-to-value and high FICO score payment option adjustable rate (“POA”) loans. The risk in-force attributable to these newer books of business was substantially reduced in 2009 pursuant to agreements reached with the insured. In January 2010, we reached an agreement with a counterparty that further reduced our bulk insurance exposure, leaving a small portfolio related principally to the FHLBs. In addition, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) has issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to implement provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) that require deletion of all references to credit rating agencies in federal rules and regulations. This would likely include rules that govern mortgage purchase programs of the FHLBs that require insurers for such programs to maintain “AA” ratings. To date, the FHLBs have waived this ratings requirement. However there can be no assurance that we will continue to be an eligible insurer for these programs once the FHFA program rules are revised.

Pool insurance

Pool insurance generally covers the loss on a defaulted mortgage loan that either exceeds the claim payment under the primary coverage (if primary insurance is required on that loan) or the total loss (if that loan does not

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require primary insurance), in each case up to a stated aggregate loss limit on the pool. While in 2006 and 2005, we wrote a limited amount of pool insurance coverage policies, we are no longer actively writing pool insurance.

Underwriting and pricing

Loan applications for all loans we insure are reviewed to evaluate each individual borrower’s credit strength and history, the characteristics of the loan and the value of the underlying property.

Fair Isaac Company developed the FICO credit scoring model to calculate a score based upon a borrower’s credit history. We use the FICO credit score as one indicator of a borrower’s credit quality. Typically, a borrower with a higher credit score has a lower likelihood of defaulting on a loan. FICO credit scores range up to 850, with a score of 620 or more generally viewed as a “prime” loan and a score below 620 generally viewed as a “sub-prime” loan. A minus loans generally are loans where the borrowers have FICO credit scores between 575 and 660, and where the borrower has a blemished credit history. As of December 31, 2010, on a risk in-force basis, approximately 93% of our primary insurance loans were considered to be “prime” in credit quality with FICO credit scores of at least 620, approximately 5% had FICO credit scores between 575 and 619, and approximately 2% had FICO credit scores of 574 or less. Loan applications for flow mortgage insurance are reviewed by our employees directly as part of our traditional underwriting process or by our contract underwriters as we process mortgage loan applications requiring mortgage insurance. The majority of our mortgage lender customers underwrite loan applications for mortgage insurance under a delegated underwriting program, in which we permit approved lenders to commit us to insure loans using underwriting guidelines we have previously approved.

When underwriting bulk insurance transactions, we evaluate credit scores and loan characteristics of the loans in the portfolio and examine loan files on a sample basis. Each bulk transaction is assigned an overall claim rate based on a weighted-average of the expected claim rates for each individual loan that comprises the transaction.

We previously offered mortgage insurance for Alt-A loans, which were originated under programs in which there was a reduced level of verification or disclosure of the borrower’s income or assets and a higher historical and expected default rate than standard documentation loans; Interest Only loans which allowed the borrower flexibility to pay interest only, or to pay interest and as much principal as desired, during an initial period of time; and POA mortgages, which typically provided four payment options that a borrower could select for the first five years of a loan. Beginning in the second half of 2007 and through 2009, however, we took specific and substantial underwriting and risk management actions to reduce our new business risk profile, including exiting certain products and types of coverages such as Alt-A, Interest Only and POA loans, as well as changing prices, product levels and underwriting guidelines, to improve the performance of new business written. Our primary guideline actions during the fourth quarter of 2008 included adding incremental geographic locations to our declining market policy definition and changes in third-party loan origination guidelines, including restrictions on delegated underwriting guidelines, as well as imposing tighter underwriting guidelines on lower-credit and higher loan-to-value risks. Additionally, with increased refinancing activity, we also added new restrictions on FICO and debt-to-income ratios to better manage risk profiles and capital consumption from new production. We believe these and other underwriting and pricing actions benefited our underwriting results on these and future books of business and could have an adverse impact on our volume of new insurance written. As market conditions stabilized or improved in certain areas, we adjusted our approaches. For example, during 2010, we eliminated our targeted declining market policy, which among other things, prohibits us from providing coverage on loans with 90% loan-to-value and below even in areas of the U.S. housing market where such conditions have begun to stabilize or improve. We continue to monitor current housing conditions and the performance of our books of business to determine if we need to make further changes in our underwriting guidelines and practices.

Loss mitigation

We request loan files to verify compliance with our master policies. Where underwriting is performed in-house, our master policy gives us the right to obtain a copy of the complete loan file for any insured loan. If no

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file is produced in response to our request, the master policy provides that coverage may be canceled. If a file is delivered but lacks certain documents that are critical to demonstrating compliance with applicable underwriting standards (discussed below) or to our ability to investigate the loan for misrepresentation, we issue a follow-up request and give the servicer an additional period of time (approximately 30 additional days) to produce the missing documents. If these documents are not received after the additional time period, the master policy provides that coverage may be canceled.

Where underwriting is delegated to other counterparties under specified criteria, our master policy requires that an insured loan be underwritten “in strict accordance” with applicable guidelines. Where our file review finds material noncompliance with the underwriting requirements, the master policy provides that coverage may be canceled. The master policy also excludes coverage for fraud and misrepresentation, among other matters. Where our investigation establishes noncompliance or fraud or misrepresentation involving an agent of the lender, we invoke our rights by issuing a letter rescinding coverage on the loan.

Following an action to rescind coverage on insured loan certificates, the insured counterparty has 60 days to appeal our decision to rescind such coverage through an appeals process. If an insured counterparty appeals our decision to rescind coverage on given loan certificates and we concur that new or additional information is sufficient for us to reinstate coverage, we take the necessary steps to reinstate uninterrupted insurance coverage and reactivate the loan certificate. If the parties are unable to resolve the dispute within the stated appeal period provided by us and such additional time as the parties may agree to, lenders may choose to pursue arbitration under the master policies and challenge the results. If arbitrated, ultimate resolution of the dispute would be pursuant to a panel’s binding arbitration award. Challenges to rescissions may be made several years after we have rescinded coverage on an insured loan certificate.

Estimated savings related to rescissions are the reduction in carried loss reserves, net of premium refunds and reinstatement of prior rescissions. Estimated savings related to loan modifications and other cure related loss mitigation actions represent the reduction in carried loss reserves. For non-cure related actions, including pre-sales, the estimated savings represent the difference between the full claim obligation and the actual amount paid. If a loan certificate that was previously rescinded is reinstated and the underlying loan certificate remains delinquent, we re-accrue any liabilities that were relieved in connection with our decision to rescind coverage on the loan certificate.

Distribution

We distribute our mortgage insurance products through our dedicated sales force throughout the United States. This sales force primarily markets to financial institutions and mortgage originators, which in turn offer mortgage insurance products to borrowers. In addition to our field sales force, we also distribute our products through a telephone sales force serving our smaller lenders, as well as through our “Action Center” which provides live phone and web chat-based support for all customer segments.

Competition

We compete primarily with U.S. and state government agencies, other private mortgage insurers, mortgage lenders and other investors, the GSEs and, potentially, the FHLBs. We also compete, indirectly, with structured transactions in the capital markets and with other financial instruments designed to mitigate credit risk although this last category of competition has been reduced by the dynamics of the financial crisis.

U.S. and state government agencies. We and other private mortgage insurers compete for flow business directly with U.S. federal and state governmental and quasi-governmental agencies, principally the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) and, to a lesser degree, the Veteran’s Administration (“VA”). In addition to competition from the FHA and the VA, we and other private mortgage insurers face competition from state-supported mortgage insurance funds in several states, including California, Illinois and New York.

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Private mortgage insurers. The private mortgage insurance industry is highly competitive and currently consists of eight mortgage insurers, excluding us.

Mortgage lenders and other investors. We and other mortgage insurers compete with transactions structured by mortgage lenders to avoid mortgage insurance on low-down-payment mortgage loans. These transactions include self-insuring and simultaneous second loans, which separate a mortgage with a loan-to-value ratio of more than 80%, which generally would require mortgage insurance, into two loans: a first mortgage with a loan-to-value ratio of 80% and a simultaneous second mortgage for the excess portion of the loan. The level of simultaneous second mortgages declined in 2009 and 2010 given the experience from the financial crisis.

The GSEs—Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHLBs. As the predominant purchasers of conventional mortgage loans in the United States, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provide a direct link between mortgage origination and capital markets. As discussed above, most high loan-to-value mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac are insured with private mortgage insurance issued by an insurer deemed qualified by the GSEs. Our U.S. mortgage insurance companies are permitted by the GSEs to operate as eligible insurers even though not all eligibility criteria may be met. Private mortgage insurers may be subject to competition from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the extent the GSEs are compensated for assuming default risk that would otherwise be insured by the private mortgage insurance industry. On February 11, 2011, the Obama Administration issued a white paper setting forth various proposals to gradually eliminate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We cannot predict whether or when any proposals will be implemented, and if so in what form, nor can we predict the effect such proposals, if so implemented, would have on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

We also compete with structured transactions in the capital markets and with other financial instruments designed to mitigate the risk of mortgage defaults, such as credit default swaps and credit linked notes, with lenders who forego mortgage insurance (self-insure) on loans held in their portfolios, and with mortgage lenders who maintain captive mortgage insurance and reinsurance programs.

Private mortgage insurers must satisfy requirements set by the GSEs to be eligible to insure loans sold to the GSEs, and the GSEs have the ability to implement new eligibility requirements for mortgage insurers. They also have the authority to change the pricing arrangements for purchasing retained-participation mortgages as compared to insured mortgages, increase or reduce required mortgage insurance coverage percentages, and alter or liberalize underwriting standards and pricing terms on low-down-payment mortgages they purchase.

In addition to the GSEs, FHLBs purchase single-family conforming mortgage loans. Although not required to do so, the FHLBs currently use mortgage insurance on substantially all mortgage loans with a loan-to-value ratio above 80%.

Corporate and Other

Our Corporate and Other activities include debt financing expenses that are incurred at our holding company level, unallocated corporate income and expenses, eliminations of inter-segment transactions, the results of non-core businesses and non-strategic products, including our institutional products, that are managed outside our operating segments.

Our non-strategic products include our institutional products and corporate-owned life insurance product. Our institutional products consist of funding agreements, FABNs and GICs, which are deposit-type products that pay a guaranteed return to the contractholder on specified dates. We manage the outstanding issuances from two FABN programs: a program registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) offered both to institutional and retail investors and a global medium term notes program sold to institutional investors both domestically and abroad. The registered notes program was discontinued in May 2009 and all SEC reporting obligations under the registered notes program were suspended. We are pursuing the issuance of our institutional products on an opportunistic basis in the current market environment.

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International Operations

Information regarding our international operations is presented in note 20 to the consolidated financial statements under “Item 8—Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Marketing

As a specialty insurance provider, we position, promote and differentiate our products and services through product value and innovation, risk management expertise, specialized support and technology for our distributors and innovative marketing programs tailored to particular consumer groups.

We offer a range of products that are designed to meet the needs of consumers throughout the various stages of their lives. We are selective in the products we offer and strive to maintain appropriate return and risk thresholds when we expand the scope of our product offerings. We also have developed sophisticated technological approaches that enhance performance by automating key processes and reducing response times, expenses and process variations. These approaches also make it easier for our customers and distributors to do business with us.

We have focused our marketing approach on promoting our product and service value proposition along with our brand to key constituencies, including sales intermediaries, consumers, employees and investors. We seek to build recognition of our offerings and brand and maintain good relationships with leading distributors by providing a high level of specialized and differentiated distribution support, such as product training, advanced marketing and sales solutions, financial product design for more affluent customers and technology solutions that support the distributors’ sales efforts and by pursuing joint business improvement efforts. In addition, we sponsor various advisory councils with independent sales intermediaries and dedicated sales specialists to gather their feedback on industry trends, new product ideas, approaches to improve service and ways to enhance our relationships.

Risk Management

Risk management is a critical part of our business. We have an enterprise risk management framework that includes risk management processes relating to economic capital analysis, product development and management, asset-liability management, investment activities, portfolio diversification, underwriting and risk and loss mitigation, financial databases and information systems, business acquisitions and dispositions, and operational capabilities. The risk management framework includes the assessment of risks, a proactive decision process to determine which risks are acceptable to be retained, appropriate risk and reward considerations, and the ongoing monitoring and management of those risks. We have emphasized our adherence to risk management disciplines and leveraged these efforts into a competitive advantage in distribution and management of our products.

Our evaluation of in-force product performance, new product initiatives and risk mitigation alternatives includes monitoring regulatory and rating agency capital models as well as internal economic capital models to determine the appropriate level of risk-adjusted capital. We utilize our internal economic capital model to assess the risk of loss to our capital resources based upon the portfolio of risks we underwrite and retain and upon our asset and operational risk profiles. Our commitment to risk management involves the ongoing review and expansion of internal capabilities with improved infrastructure and modeling.

Product development and management

Our risk management process begins with the development and introduction of new products and services. We have established a product development process that specifies a series of required analyses, reviews and approvals for any new product. For each proposed product, this process includes a review of the market opportunity and competitive landscape, major pricing assumptions and methodologies, return expectations and potential distributions, reinsurance strategies, underwriting criteria, legal, compliance and business risks and

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potential mitigating actions. Before we introduce a new product, we establish a monitoring program with specific performance targets and leading indicators, which we monitor frequently to identify any deviations from expected performance so that we can take corrective action when necessary. Significant product introductions, measured either by volume or level of risk, require approval by our senior management team at either the business or enterprise level.

We use a similar process to introduce variations to existing products and to offer existing products in new markets and through new distribution channels. Product performance reviews include an analysis of the major drivers of profitability, underwriting performance and variations from expected results including an in-depth experience analysis of the product’s major risk factors. Other areas of focus include the regulatory and competitive environments and other emerging factors that may be affecting product performance.

In addition, we initiate special reviews when a product’s performance fails to meet the indicators we established during that product’s introductory review process for subsequent reviews of in-force blocks of business. If a product does not meet our performance criteria, we consider adjustments in pricing, design and marketing or ultimately discontinuing sales of that product. We review our underwriting, pricing, distribution and risk selection strategies on a regular basis to ensure that our products remain competitive and consistent with our marketing and profitability objectives. For example, in our U.S. and international mortgage insurance and lifestyle protection insurance businesses, we review the profitability of lender accounts to assess whether our business with these lenders is achieving anticipated performance levels and to identify trends requiring remedial action, including changes to underwriting guidelines, product mix or other customer performance.

Asset-liability management

We maintain segmented investment portfolios for the majority of our product lines. This enables us to perform an ongoing analysis of the interest rate and credit risks associated with each major product line, in addition to the interest rate and credit risks for our overall enterprise. We analyze the behavior of our liability cash flows across a wide variety of scenarios, reflecting policy features and expected policyholder behavior. We also analyze the cash flows of our asset portfolios across the same scenarios. We believe this analysis shows the sensitivity of both our assets and liabilities to changes in economic environments and enables us to manage our assets and liabilities more effectively. In addition, we deploy hedging programs to mitigate certain economic risks associated with our assets, liabilities and capital. For example, we actively hedge the equity, interest rate and market volatility risks in our variable annuity products, as well interest rate risks in our long-term care insurance products.

Portfolio diversification and investments

We use new business and in-force product limits to manage our risk concentrations and to manage product, business level, geographic and other risk exposures. We manage unique product exposures in our business segments. For example, in managing our mortgage insurance risk exposure, we monitor geographic concentrations in our portfolio and the condition of housing markets in each country in which we operate. We monitor our concentration of risk in-force at the regional, state and major metropolitan area levels on a monthly basis. We also monitor fundamental price indicators and factors that affect home prices and their affordability at the national and regional levels.

In addition, our assets are managed within limitations to control credit risk and to avoid excessive concentration in our investment portfolio using defined investment and concentration guidelines that help ensure disciplined underwriting and oversight standards. We seek diversification in our investment portfolio by investing in multiple asset classes, tailored to match the cash flow characteristics of our liabilities, and actively monitoring exposures, changes in credit characteristics and shifts in markets.

We utilize surveillance and quantitative credit risk analytics to identify concentrations and drive diversification of portfolio risks. Issuer credit limits for the investment portfolios of each of our businesses (based on business capital, portfolio size and relative issuer cumulative default risk) govern and control credit concentrations in our portfolio. Derivatives counterparty risk and credit derivatives are integrated into issuer

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limits as well. We also actively monitor country and sovereign exposures in our global portfolio and evaluate and adjust our risk profiles, where needed, in response to geopolitical and economic developments in the relevant areas.

Underwriting and risk and loss mitigation

Underwriting guidelines for all products are routinely reviewed and adjusted as needed to ensure policyholders are provided with the appropriate premium and benefit structure. We seek external reviews from the reinsurance and consulting communities and are able to utilize their experience to calibrate our risk taking to expected outcomes.

Our risk and loss mitigation activities include ensuring that new policies are issued based on accurate information that we receive and that policy benefit payments are paid in accordance with the policy contract terms.

Financial databases and information systems

Our extensive financial databases and innovative information systems technology are important tools in our risk management. For example, we believe we have the largest database for long-term care insurance claims with over 35 years of experience in offering those products. We also have substantial experience in offering individual life insurance products with a large database of claims experience, particularly in preferred risk classes, which has significant predictive value; mortgage insurance; and lifestyle protection insurance products.

We use advanced and, in some cases, proprietary technology to manage variations in our underwriting process. For example, in our mortgage insurance businesses, we use borrower credit bureau information, proprietary mortgage scoring models and/or our extensive database of mortgage insurance experience along with external data including rating agency data to evaluate new products and portfolio performance. In the United States and Canada, our proprietary mortgage scoring models use the borrower’s credit score and additional data concerning the borrower, the loan and the property, including loan-to-value ratio, loan type, loan amount, property type, occupancy status and borrower employment to predict the likelihood of having to pay a claim. In addition, our models take into consideration macroeconomic variables such as unemployment, interest rate and home price changes. We believe assessing housing market and mortgage loan attributes across a range of economic outcomes enhances our ability to control and price for risk. We perform portfolio analysis on an ongoing basis to determine if modifications are required to our product offerings, underwriting guidelines or premium rates.

Business acquisitions and dispositions

When we consider an acquisition or a disposition of a block or book of business or entity, we use various business, financial and risk management disciplines to evaluate the merits of the proposals and assess its strategic fit with our current business model. We have a review process that includes a series of required analyses, reviews and approvals similar to those employed for new product introductions.

Operational capabilities

We have several risk management programs in place to ensure the continued operation of our businesses in the event of potential disruptive natural or man-made events. Business continuity plans are regularly reviewed and tested. All data is backed up on a nightly basis to alternative locations that are geographically separated.

A number of investigative teams are maintained in our various locations to address any fraudulent activities both from internal and external sources.

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Operations and Technology

Service and support

We have dedicated teams of service and support personnel, supplemented by an outsourcing provider in India who provides back-office support to our sales intermediaries. We use advanced and, in some cases, proprietary, technology to provide product design and underwriting support, and we operate service centers that leverage technology, integrated processes and process management techniques.

In our Retirement and Protection segment, we interact directly and cost-effectively with our independent sales intermediaries and dedicated sales specialists through secure websites that have enabled them to transact business with us electronically, obtain information about our products, submit applications, check application and account status and view commission information. We also provide our independent sales intermediaries and dedicated sales specialists with account information to disseminate to their customers through the use of industry-standard communications.

We also introduced technologically advanced services to customers in our International and U.S. Mortgage Insurance segments. Advances in technology enable us to accept applications through electronic submission and to issue electronic insurance commitments and certificates to varying degrees across the jurisdictions in which we do business. Through our internet-enabled information systems, lenders can receive information about their loans in our database, as well as make corrections, file notices and claims, report settlement amounts, verify loan information and access payment histories. In the United States, we also assist in workouts through what we believe was the mortgage insurance industry’s first on-line workout approval system, allowing lenders to request and obtain authorization from us for them to provide workout solutions to their borrowers.

Operating centers

We have centralized most of our operations and have established scalable, low-cost operating centers in Virginia, North Carolina and Ireland. In addition, through an arrangement with an outsourcing provider, we have a substantial team of professionals in India who provide a variety of services to us, including customer service, transaction processing, and functional support including finance, investment research, actuarial, risk and marketing resources to our insurance operations.

Reserves

We calculate and maintain reserves for estimated future benefit payments to our policyholders and contractholders in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) and industry accounting practices. We release these reserves as those future obligations are extinguished. The reserves we establish reflect estimates and actuarial assumptions with regard to our future experience. These estimates and actuarial assumptions involve the exercise of significant judgment that is subjected to a variety of internal and external independent reviews. Our future financial results depend significantly upon the extent to which our actual future experience is consistent with the assumptions we have used in pricing our products and determining our reserves. Many factors can affect future experience, including economic and social conditions, inflation, healthcare costs and changes in doctrines of legal liability and damage awards in litigation. Therefore, we cannot determine with complete precision the ultimate amounts we will pay for actual future benefits or the timing of those payments.

Reinsurance

We follow the industry practice of reinsuring portions of our insurance risks with reinsurance companies. We use reinsurance both to diversify our risks and to manage loss exposures. Reinsurance is also used to improve capital efficiency of certain products, as well as available capital and surplus at the legal entity or enterprise levels. The use of reinsurance permits us to write policies in amounts larger than the risk we are willing to retain, and also to write a larger volume of new business.

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We cede insurance primarily on a treaty basis, under which risks are ceded to a reinsurer on specific blocks of business where the underlying risks meet certain predetermined criteria. To a lesser extent, we cede insurance risks on a facultative basis, under which the reinsurer’s prior approval is required on each risk reinsured. Use of reinsurance does not discharge us, as the insurer, from liability on the insurance ceded. We, as the insurer, are required to pay the full amount of our insurance obligations even in circumstances where we are entitled or able to receive payments from our reinsurer. For additional information related to reinsurance, see note 9 in our consolidated financial statements under “Item 8—Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

The following table sets forth our exposure to our principal reinsurers as of December 31, 2010:

We also participate in reinsurance programs in which we share portions of our U.S. mortgage insurance risk written on loans originated or purchased by lenders with captive reinsurance companies affiliated with these lenders. In return, we cede to the captive reinsurers a predetermined portion of our gross premiums on flow insurance written. New insurance written through the bulk channel generally is not subject to these arrangements. See “Item 1—Business—U.S. Mortgage Insurance” for additional information regarding reinsurance captives. As of December 31, 2010, we recorded ceded loss reserves within reinsurance recoverable of $351 million where cumulative losses have exceeded the attachment points in several captive reinsurance arrangements.

Financial Strength Ratings

Ratings with respect to financial strength are an important factor in establishing the competitive position of insurance companies. Ratings are important to maintaining public confidence in us and our ability to market our products. Rating organizations review the financial performance and condition of most insurers and provide opinions regarding financial strength, operating performance and ability to meet obligations to policyholders. Short-term financial strength ratings are an assessment of the credit quality of an issuer with respect to an instrument considered short-term in the relevant market, typically one year or less.

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As of February 21, 2011, our principal life insurance subsidiaries were rated in terms of financial strength by S&P, Moody’s, A.M. Best Company, Inc. (“A.M. Best”) and Fitch as follows:

As of February 21, 2011, our principal mortgage insurance subsidiaries were rated in terms of financial strength by S&P, Moody’s and Dominion Bond Rating Service (“DBRS”) as follows:

As of February 21, 2011, our principal lifestyle protection insurance subsidiaries were rated in terms of financial strength by S&P as follows:

The S&P, Moody’s, A.M. Best, Fitch and DBRS ratings included are not designed to be, and do not serve as, measures of protection or valuation offered to investors. These financial strength ratings should not be relied on with respect to making an investment in our securities.

S&P states that an insurer rated “AA” (Very Strong) has very strong financial security characteristics that outweigh any vulnerabilities, and is highly likely to have the ability to meet financial commitments. Insurers rated “A” (Strong), “BBB” (Good) or “BB” (Marginal) have strong, good, or marginal financial security characteristics, respectively. The “AA,” “A,” “BBB” and “BB” ranges are the second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-highest of nine financial strength rating ranges assigned by S&P, which range from “AAA” to “R.” A plus (+) or minus (-) shows relative standing in a rating category. These suffixes are not added to ratings in the “AAA” category or to ratings below the “CCC” category. Accordingly, the “AA-,” “A,” “A-,” “BBB” and “BB+” ratings are the fourth-, sixth-, seventh-, ninth- and eleventh-highest of S&P’s 21 ratings categories. The short-term “A-1” rating is the highest rating and shows the capacity to meet financial commitments is strong. An obligor rated “mxAA” has a very strong capacity to meet its financial commitments relative to that of other Mexican obligors. The “mxAA” rating is the second-highest enterprise credit rating assigned on S&P’s CaVal national scale.

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Moody’s states that insurance companies rated “A” (Good) offer good financial security and that insurance companies rated “Baa” (Adequate) offer adequate financial security. The “A” (Good) and “Baa” (Adequate) ranges are the third- and fourth-highest, respectively, of nine financial strength rating ranges assigned by Moody’s, which range from “Aaa” to “C.” Numeric modifiers are used to refer to the ranking within the group, with 1 being the highest and 3 being the lowest. These modifiers are not added to ratings in the “Aaa” category or to ratings below the “Caa” category. Accordingly, the “A1,” “A2,” “Baa2” and “Baa3” ratings are the fifth-, sixth-, ninth- and tenth-highest, respectively, of Moody’s 21 ratings categories. The short-term rating “P-1” is the highest rating and shows superior ability for repayment of short-term debt obligations. Issuers or issues rated “Aa.mx” demonstrate very strong creditworthiness relative to other issuers in Mexico.

A.M. Best states that the “A” (Excellent) and “A-” (Excellent) ratings are assigned to those companies that have, in its opinion, an excellent ability to meet their ongoing insurance obligations. The “A” (Excellent) and “A-” (Excellent) ratings are the third- and fourth-highest, respectively, of 15 ratings assigned by A.M. Best, which range from “A++” to “F.”

Fitch states that “A” (Strong) rated insurance companies are viewed as possessing strong capacity to meet policyholder and contract obligations. The “A” rating category is the third-highest of nine financial strength rating categories, which range from “AAA” to “C.” The symbol (+) or (-) may be appended to a rating to indicate the relative position of a credit within a rating category. These suffixes are not added to ratings in the “AAA” category or to ratings below the “B” category. Accordingly, the “A-” rating is the seventh-highest of Fitch’s 19 ratings categories.

DBRS states that long-term obligations rated “AA” are of superior credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is considered high and unlikely to be significantly vulnerable to future events. Credit quality differs from “AAA” only to a small degree.

S&P, Moody’s, A.M. Best, Fitch and DBRS review their ratings periodically and we cannot assure you that we will maintain our current ratings in the future. Other agencies may also rate our company or our insurance subsidiaries on a solicited or an unsolicited basis.

Investments

As of December 31, 2010, we had total cash, cash equivalents and invested assets of $71.6 billion. We manage our assets to meet diversification, credit quality, yield and liquidity requirements of our policy and contract liabilities by investing primarily in fixed maturity securities, including government, municipal and corporate bonds, mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities. We also hold mortgage loans on commercial real estate and other invested assets, which include short-term investments, trading securities, derivatives and limited partnerships. Investments for our particular insurance company subsidiaries are required to comply with our risk management requirements, as well as applicable laws and insurance regulatory authorities.

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The following table sets forth our cash, cash equivalents and invested assets as of December 31:

For a discussion of our investments, see “Item 7—Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Consolidated Balance Sheets.”

Our primary investment objective is to meet our obligations to policyholders and contractholders while increasing value to our stockholders by investing in a diversified, high quality portfolio, comprised of income producing securities and other assets. Our investment strategy focuses primarily on:

We are exposed to two primary sources of investment risk:

We manage credit risk by analyzing issuers, transaction structures and any associated collateral. We monitor credit risk and continually measure the probability of credit default and estimated loss in the event of such a default, which provides us with early notification of worsening credits. We also manage credit risk through industry and issuer diversification and asset allocation practices. For commercial mortgage loans, we manage credit risk through geographic, property type and product type diversification and asset allocation.

We mitigate interest rate risk through the rigorous management of the relationship between the duration of our assets and the duration of our liabilities, seeking to minimize risk of loss in both rising and falling interest rate environments, and by utilizing various derivative strategies. For further information on our management of interest rate risk, see “Item 7A—Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.”

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Organization

Our investment department comprises asset management, portfolio management, derivatives, risk management, operations and accounting functions. Under the direction of the Investment Committee, it is responsible for establishing investment and derivative policies and strategies, reviewing asset-liability management and performing asset allocation.

We use both internal and external asset managers to take advantage of specific areas of expertise in particular asset classes or to leverage country-specific investing capabilities. We manage certain asset classes for our domestic insurance operations, including public corporate securities, structured securities, government securities, commercial mortgage loans, privately placed debt securities and derivatives. We utilize external asset managers primarily for our international portfolios. Management of investments for our international operations is overseen by the managing director and boards of directors of the applicable non-U.S. legal entities in consultation with our Chief Investment Officer. The majority of the assets of our lifestyle protection insurance and European, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand mortgage insurance businesses are managed by unaffiliated investment managers located in their respective countries. As of December 31, 2010 and 2009, approximately 22% and 15%, respectively, of our invested assets were held by our international businesses and were invested primarily in non-U.S.-denominated securities.

Fixed maturity securities

Fixed maturity securities, which were primarily classified as available-for-sale, including tax-exempt bonds, consisted principally of publicly traded and privately placed debt securities, and represented 77% and 73%, respectively, of total cash, cash equivalents and invested assets as of December 31, 2010 and 2009.

We invest in privately placed fixed maturity securities to increase diversification and obtain higher yields than can ordinarily be obtained with comparable public market securities. Generally, private placements provide us with protective covenants, call protection features and, where applicable, a higher level of collateral. However, our private placements are generally not as freely transferable as public securities because of restrictions imposed by federal and state securities laws, the terms of the securities and the characteristics of the private market.

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The following table presents our public, private and total fixed maturity securities by the Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (“NRSRO”) designations and/or equivalent ratings, as well as the percentage, based upon fair value, that each designation comprises. Certain fixed maturity securities that are not rated by the NRSRO are shown based upon the equivalent National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) designation or, in limited circumstances, internally prepared credit evaluations.

Based upon fair value, public fixed maturity securities represented 77% and 75%, respectively, of total fixed maturity securities as of December 31, 2010 and 2009. Private fixed maturity securities represented 23% and 25%, respectively, of total fixed maturity securities as of December 31, 2010 and 2009.

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We diversify our fixed maturity securities by security sector. Our investments in mortgage-backed securities include securities collateralized by prime, sub-prime and Alt-A loans. Sub-prime loans are loans considered alternative credit as broadly determined by a combination of FICO score, loan-to-value ratio and other collateral data. Alt-A loans are loans considered alternative or low documentation. The following table sets forth the fair value of our fixed maturity securities by sector as well as the percentage of the total fixed maturity securities holdings that each security sector comprised as of December 31:

The following table sets forth the major industry types that comprise our corporate bond holdings, based primarily on industry codes established in the Barclays Capital Aggregate Index, as well as the percentage of the total corporate bond holdings that each industry comprised as of December 31:

We diversify our corporate bond holdings by industry and issuer. The portfolio does not have significant exposure to any single issuer. As of December 31, 2010, our combined corporate bond holdings in the ten issuers to which we had the greatest exposure were $3.1 billion, which was approximately 4% of our total cash, cash equivalents and invested assets. The exposure to the largest single issuer of corporate bonds held as of December 31, 2010 was $413 million, which was less than 1% of our total cash, cash equivalents and invested assets.

We do not have material unhedged exposure to foreign currency risk in our invested assets of our U.S. operations. In our international insurance operations, both our assets and liabilities are generally denominated in local currencies.

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Commercial mortgage loans and other invested assets

Our mortgage loans are collateralized by commercial properties, including multi-family residential buildings. Commercial mortgage loans are primarily stated at principal amounts outstanding, net of deferred expenses and allowance for loan loss. We diversify our commercial mortgage loans by both property type and geographic region. See note 4 to our consolidated financial statements under “Item 8—Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for additional information on distribution across property type and geographic region for commercial mortgage loans, as well as information on our interest in equity securities and other invested assets.

Selected financial information regarding our other invested assets and derivative instruments as of December 31, 2010 and 2009 is included under “Item 7—Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Investment and Derivative Instruments.”

Regulation

Our businesses are subject to extensive regulation and supervision.

General

Our insurance operations are subject to a wide variety of laws and regulations. State insurance laws and regulations (“Insurance Laws”) regulate most aspects of our U.S. insurance businesses, and our U.S. insurers are regulated by the insurance departments of the states in which they are domiciled and licensed. Our non-U.S. insurance operations are principally regulated by insurance regulatory authorities in the jurisdictions in which they are domiciled. Our insurance products, and thus our businesses, also are affected by U.S. federal, state and local tax laws, and the tax laws of non-U.S. jurisdictions. Our securities operations, including our insurance products that are regulated as securities, such as variable annuities and variable life insurance, also are subject to U.S. federal and state and non-U.S. securities laws and regulations. The SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), state securities authorities and similar non-U.S. authorities regulate and supervise these products.

The primary purpose of the Insurance Laws affecting our insurance and securities businesses and their equivalents in the other countries in which we operate, and the securities laws affecting our variable annuity products, variable life insurance products, registered FABNs, broker/dealers and advisory businesses, is to protect our policyholders, contractholders and clients, not our stockholders. These Insurance Laws are regularly re-examined and any changes to these laws or new laws may be more restrictive or otherwise adversely affect our operations.

In addition, insurance and securities regulatory authorities (including state law enforcement agencies and attorneys general or their non-U.S. equivalents) periodically make inquiries regarding compliance with insurance, securities and other laws and regulations, and we cooperate with such inquiries and take corrective action when warranted.

Our distributors and institutional customers also operate in regulated environments. Changes in the regulations that affect their operations may affect our business relationships with them and their decision to distribute or purchase our subsidiaries’ products.

In addition, the Insurance Laws of our U.S. insurers’ domiciliary jurisdictions and the equivalent laws in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and certain other jurisdictions in which we operate require that a person obtain the approval of the applicable insurance regulator prior to acquiring control, and in some cases prior to

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divesting its control, of an insurer. These laws may discourage potential acquisition proposals and may delay, deter or prevent an investment in or a change of control involving us, or one or more of our regulated subsidiaries, including transactions that our management and some or all of our stockholders might consider desirable.

U.S. Insurance Regulation

Our U.S. insurers are licensed and regulated in all jurisdictions in which they conduct insurance business. The extent of this regulation varies, but Insurance Laws generally govern the financial condition of insurers, including standards of solvency, types and concentrations of permissible investments, establishment and maintenance of reserves, credit for reinsurance and requirements of capital adequacy, and the business conduct of insurers, including marketing and sales practices and claims handling. In addition, Insurance Laws usually require the licensing of insurers and agents, and the approval of policy forms, related materials and the rates for certain lines of insurance.

The Insurance Laws applicable to us or our U.S. insurers are described below. Our U.S. mortgage insurers are also subject to additional insurance laws and regulations applicable specifically to mortgage insurers discussed below under “—Mortgage Insurance.”

Insurance holding company regulation

All U.S. jurisdictions in which our U.S. insurers conduct business have enacted legislation requiring each U.S. insurer (except captive insurers) in a holding company system to register with the insurance regulatory authority of its domiciliary jurisdiction and furnish that regulatory authority various information concerning the operations of, and the interrelationships and transactions among, companies within its holding company system that may materially affect the operations, management or financial condition of the insurers within the system. These Insurance Laws regulate transactions between insurers and their affiliates, sometimes mandating prior notice to the regulator and/or regulatory approval. Generally, these Insurance Laws require that all transactions between an insurer and an affiliate be fair and reasonable, and that the insurer’s statutory surplus following such transaction be reasonable in relation to its outstanding liabilities and adequate to its financial needs. As a holding company with no significant business operations of our own, we depend on dividends or other distributions from our subsidiaries as the principal source of cash to meet our obligations, including the payment of interest on, and repayment of principal of, any debt obligations. Our U.S. insurers’ payment of dividends or other distributions is regulated by the Insurance Laws of their respective domiciliary states, and insurers may not pay an “extraordinary” dividend or distribution, or pay a dividend except out of earned surplus, without prior regulatory approval. In general, an “extraordinary” dividend or distribution is defined as a dividend or distribution that, together with other dividends and distributions made within the preceding 12 months, exceeds the greater (or, in some jurisdictions, the lesser) of:

In addition, insurance regulators may prohibit the payment of ordinary dividends or other payments by our insurers (such as a payment under a tax sharing agreement or for employment or other services) if they determine that such payment could be adverse to our policyholders or contractholders.

The Insurance Laws of our U.S. insurers’ domiciliary jurisdictions require that a person obtain the approval of the insurance commissioner of an insurer’s domiciliary jurisdiction prior to acquiring control of such insurer. Control of an insurer is generally presumed to exist if any person, directly or indirectly, owns, controls, holds with the power to vote, or holds proxies representing, 10% or more of the voting securities of the insurer or its ultimate parent entity. In considering an application to acquire control of an insurer, the insurance commissioner

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generally considers factors such as the experience, competence and financial strength of the applicant, the integrity of the applicant’s board of directors and executive officers, the acquirer’s plans for the management and operation of the insurer, and any anti-competitive results that may arise from the acquisition. Some states require a person seeking to acquire control of an insurer licensed but not domiciled in that state to make a filing prior to completing an acquisition if the acquirer and its affiliates and the target insurer and its affiliates have specified market shares in the same lines of insurance in that state. These provisions may not require acquisition approval but can lead to imposition of conditions on an acquisition that could delay or prevent its consummation.

The NAIC recently adopted significant changes to the insurance holding company act and regulations (the “NAIC Amendments”). The NAIC Amendments are designed to respond to perceived gaps in the regulation of insurance holding company systems in the United States. One of the major changes is a requirement that an insurance holding company system’s ultimate controlling person submit annually to its lead state insurance regulator an “enterprise risk report” that identifies activities, circumstances or events involving one or more affiliates of an insurer that, if not remedied properly, are likely to have a material adverse effect upon the financial condition or liquidity of the insurer or its insurance holding company system as a whole. Other changes include requiring a controlling person to submit prior notice to its domiciliary insurance regulator of a divestiture of control, detailed minimum requirements for cost sharing and management agreements between an insurer and its affiliates and expansion of the agreements between an insurer and its affiliates to be filed with its domiciliary insurance regulator. The NAIC Amendments must be adopted by the individual state legislatures and insurance regulators in order to be effective. We cannot predict whether the NAIC Amendments will be adopted in whole or in part by these states or the impact, if any, these changes will have on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Periodic reporting

Our U.S. insurers must file reports, including detailed annual financial statements, with insurance regulatory authorities in each jurisdiction in which they do business, and their operations and accounts are subject to periodic examination by such authorities.

Policy forms

Our U.S. insurers’ policy forms are subject to regulation in every U.S. jurisdiction in which they transact insurance business. In most U.S. jurisdictions, policy forms must be filed prior to their use, and in some U.S. jurisdictions, forms must be approved prior to use.

Market conduct regulation

The Insurance Laws of U.S. jurisdictions govern the marketplace activities of insurers, affecting the form and content of disclosure to consumers, product illustrations, advertising, product replacement, sales and underwriting practices, and complaint and claims handling, and these provisions are generally enforced through periodic market conduct examinations.

Statutory examinations

Insurance departments in U.S. jurisdictions conduct periodic detailed examinations of the books, records, accounts and business practices of domestic insurers. These examinations generally are conducted in cooperation with insurance departments of two or three other states or jurisdictions representing each of the NAIC zones, under guidelines promulgated by the NAIC.

Guaranty associations and similar arrangements

Most jurisdictions in which our U.S. insurers are licensed require those insurers to participate in guaranty associations which pay contractual benefits owed under the policies of impaired or insolvent insurers. These associations levy assessments, up to prescribed limits, on each member insurer in a jurisdiction on the basis of

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the proportionate share of the premiums written by such insurer in the lines of business in which the impaired, insolvent or failed insurer is engaged. Some jurisdictions permit member insurers to recover assessments paid through full or partial premium tax offsets. Aggregate assessments levied against our U.S. insurers were not material to our consolidated financial statements.

Policy and contract reserve sufficiency analysis

The Insurance Laws of their domiciliary jurisdictions require our U.S. life insurers to conduct annual analyses of the sufficiency of their life and health insurance and annuity reserves. Other jurisdictions where insurers are licensed may have certain reserve requirements that differ from those of their domiciliary jurisdictions. In each case, a qualified actuary must submit an opinion stating that the aggregate statutory reserves, when considered in light of the assets held with respect to such reserves, make good and sufficient provision for the insurer’s associated contractual obligations and related expenses. If such an opinion cannot be provided, the insurer must establish additional reserves by transferring funds from surplus. Our U.S. life insurers submit these opinions annually to their insurance regulatory authorities. Different reserve requirements exist for our U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries. See “—Reserves—Mortgage Insurance.”

Surplus and capital requirements

Insurance regulators have the discretionary authority, in connection with maintaining the licensing of our U.S. insurers, to limit or restrict insurers from issuing new policies, or policies having a dollar value over certain thresholds, if, in the regulators’ judgment, the insurer is not maintaining a sufficient amount of surplus or is in a hazardous financial condition. We seek to maintain new business and capital management strategies to support meeting related regulatory requirements.

Risk-based capital

The NAIC has established Risk-Based Capital (“RBC”) standards for U.S. life insurers, as well as a risk-based capital model act (“RBC Model Act”). All 50 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the RBC Model Act or a substantially similar law or regulation. The RBC Model Act requires that life insurers annually submit a report to state regulators regarding their RBC based upon four categories of risk: asset risk, insurance risk, interest rate and market risk, and business risk. The capital requirement for each is generally determined by applying factors which vary based upon the degree of risk to various asset, premium and reserve items. The formula is an early warning tool to identify possible weakly capitalized companies for purposes of initiating further regulatory action.

If an insurer’s RBC fell below specified levels, it would be subject to different degrees of regulatory action depending upon the level, ranging from requiring the insurer to propose actions to correct the capital deficiency to placing the insurer under regulatory control. As of December 31, 2010, the RBC of each of our U.S. life insurance subsidiaries exceeded the level of RBC that would require any of them to take or become subject to any corrective action.

Statutory accounting principles

U.S. insurance regulators developed statutory accounting principles (“SAP”) as a basis of accounting used to monitor and regulate the solvency of insurers. Since insurance regulators are primarily concerned with ensuring an insurer’s ability to pay its current and future obligations to policyholders, statutory accounting conservatively values the assets and liabilities of insurers, generally in accordance with standards specified by the insurer’s domiciliary jurisdiction. Uniform statutory accounting practices are established by the NAIC and are generally adopted by regulators in the various U.S. jurisdictions.

Due to differences in methodology between SAP and U.S. GAAP, the values for assets, liabilities and equity reflected in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP are materially different from those reflected in financial statements prepared under SAP.

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Regulation of investments

Each of our U.S. insurers is subject to Insurance Laws that require diversification of its investment portfolio and which limit the proportion of investments in different asset categories. Assets invested contrary to such regulatory limitations must be treated as non-admitted assets for purposes of measuring surplus, and, in some instances, regulations would require divestiture of such non-complying investments. We believe the investments made by our U.S. insurers comply with these Insurance Laws.

Federal regulation of insurance products

Most of our variable annuity products, some of our fixed guaranteed products, and all of our variable life insurance products, as well as our FABNs issued as part of our registered notes program are “securities” within the meaning of federal and state securities laws, are registered under the Securities Act of 1933 and are subject to regulation by the SEC. These products may also be indirectly regulated by FINRA as a result of FINRA’s regulation of broker/dealers and may be regulated by state securities authorities. Federal and state securities regulation similar to that discussed below under “—Securities Regulation” affects investment advice and sales and related activities with respect to these products. In addition, although the federal government does not comprehensively regulate the business of insurance, federal legislation and administrative policies in several areas, including taxation, financial services regulation, and pension and welfare benefits regulation, can also significantly affect the insurance industry.

Dodd-Frank Act and other federal initiatives

Although the federal government generally does not directly regulate the insurance business, federal initiatives often, and increasingly, have an impact on the business in a variety of ways. From time to time, federal measures are proposed which may significantly affect the insurance business, including limitations on antitrust immunity, tax incentives for lifetime annuity payouts, simplification bills affecting tax-advantaged or tax-exempt savings and retirement vehicles, and proposals to modify or eliminate the estate tax. In addition, various forms of direct federal regulation of insurance have been proposed in recent years.

In response to the recent financial crisis, the Dodd-Frank Act was enacted and signed into law in July 2010. The Dodd-Frank Act made extensive changes to the laws regulating financial services firms and requires various federal agencies to adopt a broad range of new implementing rules and regulations.

Among other provisions, the Dodd-Frank Act provides for a new framework of regulation of over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives markets. This will require us to clear certain types of transactions currently traded in the OTC derivative markets and may limit our ability to customize certain derivative transactions for our needs. In addition, we will likely experience additional collateral requirements and costs associated with derivative transactions. The Dodd-Frank Act also authorizes the SEC to adopt regulations that could impose heightened standards of care on sellers of variable or other registered products, which could adversely affect sales of and reduce margins on these products.

In the case of our U.S. mortgage insurance business, the Dodd-Frank Act requires securitizers to retain some of the risk associated with mortgage loans they sell or securitize, unless the mortgage loans are “qualified residential mortgages” or unless the securitization or security is partially or fully exempted by regulations to be promulgated. The Dodd-Frank Act provides that the definition of “qualified residential mortgages” will be determined by regulators, with consideration to be given, among other things, to the presence of mortgage insurance. The legislation also prohibits a creditor from making a residential mortgage loan unless the creditor makes a reasonable and good faith determination that, at the time the loan is consummated, the consumer has a reasonable ability to repay the loan. These provisions will be clarified in federal rules and regulations to be adopted. In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act creates a Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, which regulates certain aspects of the offering and provision of consumer financial products or services but not the business of insurance. This Bureau may issue rules or regulations that indirectly affect our mortgage insurance business.

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The Dodd-Frank Act also establishes a Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”), which is authorized to subject non-bank financial companies deemed systemically significant to stricter prudential standards and other requirements and to subject such companies to a special orderly liquidation process outside the federal Bankruptcy Code, administered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; insurance company subsidiaries would remain subject to liquidation and rehabilitation proceedings under state law, although the FSOC is authorized to direct that such a proceeding be commenced against the insurer under state law. In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act establishes a Federal Insurance Office within the Department of the Treasury. While not having a general supervisory or regulatory authority over the business of insurance, the director of this office will perform various functions with respect to insurance, including serving as a non-voting member of the FSOC and making recommendations to the FSOC regarding insurers to be designated for more stringent regulation. The director is also required to conduct a study on how to modernize and improve the system of insurance regulation in the United States, including by increasing national uniformity through either a federal charter or effective action by the states.

Federal agencies have been given significant discretion in drafting the rules and regulations that will implement the Dodd-Frank Act. In addition, this legislation mandated multiple studies and reports for Congress, which could in some cases result in additional legislative or regulatory action.

We cannot predict the requirements of the regulations ultimately adopted under the Dodd-Frank Act or any such additional legislation, the affect such legislation or regulations will have on financial markets generally, or on our businesses specifically, the additional costs associated with compliance with such regulations or legislation, or any changes to our operations that may be necessary to comply with the Dodd-Frank Act, any of which could have a material adverse affect on our business, results of operations, cash flows or financial condition. We also cannot predict whether other federal initiatives will be adopted or what impact, if any, such initiatives, if adopted as laws, may have on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Changes in tax laws

Changes in tax laws could make some of our products more or less attractive to consumers. For example, the federal estate tax exclusion amount was recently increased to $5 million by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. The legislation also permits a surviving spouse to succeed to any unused federal estate tax exclusion amount of the deceased spouse. This permits the beneficiary of a survivorship life policy to receive a larger death benefit free of estate tax on the second spouse’s death than would have been allowed under prior law, potentially making such policies more attractive to affluent customers. However, since the estate tax exclusion had been $3.5 million in 2009, and our policyholders are generally not high net worth individuals who would be subject to the estate tax, we believe that these developments will have little effect on current sales of life insurance. The scheduled reversion of individual income tax, dividend and capital gain rates to previous levels in tax years after 2010 was put on hold for two years, delaying to at least 2013 any incentive provided by rising tax rates for investors to buy our fixed deferred annuity products. The one year extension of the treatment of mortgage insurance premiums as generally deductible qualified residence interest continues to make that product more affordable by moderate income homeowners.

U.K. Insurance Regulation

General

Insurance and reinsurance businesses in the United Kingdom are subject to regulation by the Financial Services Authority (“FSA”), which has authorized certain of our U.K. subsidiaries to effect and carry out contracts of insurance in the United Kingdom. Insurers authorized by the FSA in the United Kingdom are generally able to operate throughout the European Union, subject to satisfying certain FSA requirements and, in some cases, additional local regulatory provisions. Certain of our U.K. subsidiaries operate in other European Union member states through establishment of branch offices.

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Supervision

The FSA has adopted a risk-based approach to the supervision of insurers whereby it periodically performs a formal risk assessment of insurance companies or groups conducting business in the United Kingdom. After each risk assessment, the FSA will inform the insurer of its views on the insurer’s risk profile, including details of remedial action the FSA requires and the likely consequences of not taking such actions. The FSA also supervises the management of insurance companies through the “approved persons” regime, which subjects to FSA approval any person who performs certain specified “controlled functions” for or in relation to a regulated entity.

In addition, the FSA supervises the sale of general insurance, including certain lifestyle protection and mortgage insurance products. Under FSA rules, persons involved in the sale of general insurance (including insurers and distributors) are prohibited from offering or accepting any inducement in connection with the sale of general insurance that is likely to conflict materially with their duties to insureds. Although the rules do not generally require disclosure of broker compensation, the insurer or distributor must disclose broker compensation at the insured’s request.

Solvency requirements

Under FSA rules, insurers must maintain a minimum amount of capital resources for solvency purposes at all times, the calculation of which depends on the type, amount and claims history of the insurer. Failure to maintain the required minimum amount of capital resources is one of the grounds on which the FSA may exercise its wide powers of intervention. In addition, an insurer that is part of a group is required to perform and submit to the FSA a capital resources calculation return in respect of the following:

There will be fundamental changes to the existing solvency capital regime for all insurers and reinsurers operating in Europe as a result of the introduction of the Solvency II directive. Currently, these changes are expected to be effective in 2013. At this stage, it is not possible to predict the impact these changes will have on our operations.

Restrictions on dividend payments

The U.K. Companies Act 2006 prohibits U.K. companies from making a distribution such as a dividend to their stockholders unless they have “profits available for distribution,” the determination of which is based on the company’s audited accumulated realized profits (so far as not previously utilized by distribution) less its accumulated realized losses (so far as not previously written off).

Intervention and enforcement

The FSA has extensive powers to intervene in the affairs of an insurer or authorized person and has the power, among other things, to enforce and take disciplinary measures in respect of, breaches of its rules. Such powers include the power to vary or withdraw any authorizations.

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Mortgage Insurance

State regulation

General

Mortgage insurers generally are limited by Insurance Laws to writing mortgage insurance business exclusively, prohibiting our mortgage insurers from directly writing other types of insurance. Mortgage insurers are not subject to the NAIC’s RBC requirements but are subject to other capital requirements placed directly on mortgage insurers. Generally, mortgage insurers are required by certain states and other regulators to maintain a risk-to-capital ratio not to exceed 25:1. As of December 31, 2010, none of our U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries had a risk-to-capital ratio in excess of 25:1. North Carolina law grants discretion to the Commissioner of the North Carolina Department of Insurance (“NCDOI”), which is the domiciliary insurance regulator for our U.S. mortgage insurers, through mid-2015 to allow a mortgage insurer to exceed the 25:1 requirement if the Commissioner finds that such insurer’s contingency reserves and surplus are reasonable in relationship to its aggregate insured risk and adequate to its financial needs, taking into account a number of specified factors. Similar legislative or regulatory initiatives have been proposed or enacted in a number of other states that impose a similar risk-to-capital requirement on mortgage insurers. As of January 31, 2011, our primary U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiary, Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corporation (“GEMICO”), slightly exceeded the 25:1 risk-to-capital requirement. However, GEMICO was granted a revocable two-year risk-to-capital waiver, effective January 31, 2011, by the NCDOI. The waiver, which the NCDOI can modify or terminate at its discretion, gives GEMICO the ability to continue to write new business in North Carolina during the period covered by the waiver, notwithstanding that GEMICO’s risk-to-capital ratio exceeds 25:1. Given that the NCDOI is GEMICO’s domiciliary insurance regulator, the effect of the waiver similarly extends to the 34 states that do not have their own risk-to-capital requirements, thereby enabling GEMICO to continue to write business in those states so long as it is permitted to do so in North Carolina under the NCDOI’s waiver or because its risk-to-capital ratio decreases below 25:1. Further, so as to be able to write new business out of GEMICO in the remaining states which do have separate minimum risk-to-capital requirements, we are also pursuing similar waivers of the risk-to-capital requirement with other state regulators where the authority to grant a waiver exists. In addition to the NCDOI’s waiver, to date, four states have granted us the authority to continue to write business in their state either by a waiver or an administrative no action letter. Consequently, while we seek additional state waivers, GEMICO remains authorized to write new business in 39 states. In anticipation of the possibility that GEMICO would breach its risk-to-capital requirements and a required waiver might not yet be granted, ultimately approved or maintained in force, we took all requisite steps to enable another of our U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries, Genworth Residential Mortgage Insurance Corporation of North Carolina (“GRMIC-NC”), to write new business in lieu of GEMICO and have begun to do so in any state where GEMICO is restricted due to its breach of its 25:1 risk-to-capital requirements and where no waiver has been granted. In this regard, while GRMIC-NC currently is considered an eligible insurer by the GSEs, that status, with respect to our plans to utilize GRMIC-NC in lieu of GEMICO, is subject to a number of conditions and currently is limited in duration.

Further, in order to separately provide us with flexibility to write new business, we are positioning another of our U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries, Genworth Residential Mortgage Assurance Corporation (“GRMAC”), to write new business. In this regard, the NCDOI approved our filing to fully activate GRMAC, subject to certain conditions, but recently imposed the additional requirement that we must obtain a further approval from the NCDOI before GEMICO can complete all necessary steps, including capitalization of GRMAC by GEMICO, in order to implement this plan. We continue to work with the NCDOI and the GSEs to obtain approval for GRMAC.

Reserves

Insurance Laws require our U.S. mortgage insurers to establish a special statutory contingency reserve in their statutory financial statements to provide for losses in the event of significant economic declines. Annual additions to the statutory contingency reserve must equal 50% of net earned premiums as defined by Insurance Laws. These contingency reserves generally are held until the earlier of (i) the time that loss ratios exceed 35% or

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(ii) ten years, although regulators have granted discretionary releases from time to time. The statutory contingency reserve for our U.S. mortgage insurers was approximately $91 million as of December 31, 2010. This reserve reduces the policyholder surplus of our U.S. mortgage insurers, and therefore, their ability to pay dividends to us.

Federal regulation

In addition to federal laws that directly affect mortgage insurers, private mortgage insurers are affected indirectly by federal legislation and regulation affecting mortgage originators and lenders, by purchasers of mortgage loans such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and by governmental insurers such as the FHA and VA. For example, changes in federal housing legislation and other laws and regulations that affect the demand for private mortgage insurance may have a material effect on private mortgage insurers. Legislation or regulation that increases the number of people eligible for FHA or VA mortgages could have a materially adverse effect on our ability to compete with the FHA or VA.

The Homeowners Protection Act provides for the automatic termination, or cancellation upon a borrower’s request, of private mortgage insurance upon satisfaction of certain conditions. The Homeowners Protection Act applies to owner-occupied residential mortgage loans regardless of lien priority and to borrower-paid mortgage insurance closed after July 29, 1999. FHA loans are not covered by the Homeowners Protection Act. Under the Homeowners Protection Act, automatic termination of mortgage insurance would generally occur once the loan-to-value ratio reaches 78%. A borrower generally may request cancellation of mortgage insurance once the actual payments reduce the loan balance to 80% of the home’s original value. For borrower-initiated cancellation of mortgage insurance, the borrower must have a “good payment history” as defined by the Homeowners Protection Act.

The Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act of 1974 (“RESPA”) applies to most residential mortgages insured by private mortgage insurers. Mortgage insurance has been considered in some cases to be a “settlement service” for purposes of loans subject to RESPA. Subject to limited exceptions, RESPA precludes us from providing services to mortgage lenders free of charge, charging fees for services that are lower than their reasonable or fair market value, and paying fees for services that others provide that are higher than their reasonable or fair market value. In addition, RESPA prohibits persons from giving or accepting any portion or percentage of a charge for a real estate settlement service, other than for services actually performed. Although many states prohibit mortgage insurers from giving rebates, RESPA has been interpreted to cover many non-fee services as well. Mortgage insurers and their customers are subject to the possible sanctions of this law, which may be enforced by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Administration (“HUD”), state insurance departments, state attorneys general and other enforcement authorities.

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) also affect the business of mortgage insurance in various ways. ECOA, for example, prohibits discrimination against certain protected classes in credit transactions. FCRA governs the access and use of consumer credit information in credit transactions and requires notices to consumers in certain circumstances.

Most originators of mortgage loans are required to collect and report data relating to a mortgage loan applicant’s race, nationality, gender, marital status and census tract to HUD or the Federal Reserve under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (“HMDA”). The purpose of HMDA is to detect possible impermissible discrimination in home lending and, through disclosure, to discourage such discrimination. Mortgage insurers are not required to report HMDA data although, under the laws of several states, mortgage insurers currently are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of certain classifications. Mortgage insurers have, through Mortgage Insurance Companies of America, entered voluntarily into an agreement with the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council to report the same data on loans submitted for insurance as is required for most mortgage lenders under HMDA.

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International regulation

Canada

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (“OSFI”) provides oversight to all federally incorporated financial institutions, including our Canadian mortgage insurance company, Genworth Financial Mortgage Insurance Company Canada, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Genworth Canada. OSFI does not have enforcement powers over market conduct issues in the insurance industry, which are a provincial responsibility. The Federal Bank Act, Insurance Companies Act and Trust and Loan Companies Act prohibit Canadian banks, trust companies and insurers from extending mortgage loans where the loan value exceeds 80% of the property’s value, unless mortgage insurance is obtained in connection with the loan. As a result, all mortgages issued by these financial institutions with a loan-to-value ratio exceeding 80% must be insured by a qualified insurer or CMHC. Legislation became effective in Canada in 2010 that, among other things, amended these statutes to prohibit such financial institutions from charging borrowers amounts for mortgage insurance that exceed the lender’s actual costs and impose new disclosure obligations in respect of mortgage insurance.

The Government Guarantee Agreement in place with the Canadian government guarantees the benefits payable under mortgage insurance policies, less 10% of the original principal amount of an insured loan, in the event that we fail to make claim payments with respect to that loan because of insolvency. We pay the Canadian government a risk premium for this guarantee and make other payments to a reserve fund in respect of the government’s obligation. Because banks are not required to maintain regulatory capital on an asset backed by a sovereign guarantee, our 90% sovereign guarantee permits lenders purchasing our mortgage insurance to reduce their regulatory capital charges for credit risks on mortgages by 90%. In addition to recent amendments made to the Government Guarantee Agreement, the Canadian Department of Finance has informed us that they intend to continue to review the Government Guarantee Agreement we have with the Canadian government and we remain engaged in ongoing discussions with Department of Finance officials on this matter.

The Insurance Companies Act of Canada provides that dividends may only be declared by the board of directors of the Canadian insurer and paid if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the payment of the dividend would not cause the insurer to be in violation of its minimum capital and liquidity requirements. Also, we are required to notify OSFI at least 15 days prior to the dividend payment date.

The legislative requirement in Canada to obtain mortgage insurance on high loan-to-value mortgages and the favorable capital treatment given to financial institutions because of our 90% sovereign guarantee effectively preclude these financial institutions from issuing simultaneous second mortgage products similar to those offered in the United States.

As a public company that is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TMX”), Genworth Canada is subject to securities laws and regulation in each province in Canada, as well as the reporting requirements of the TMX.

Australia

APRA regulates all financial institutions in Australia, including life, general and mortgage insurance companies. APRA’s license conditions require Australian mortgage insurers to be monoline insurers, which are insurers offering just one type of insurance product. APRA’s regulations apply to individual licensed insurers and to the relevant Australian-based holding company and group.

APRA also sets minimum capital levels and monitors corporate governance requirements, including our risk management strategy. In this regard, APRA reviews our management, controls, processes, reporting and methods by which all risks are managed, including an annual financial review and an annual review of insurance liabilities by an approved actuary. APRA also annually requires us to submit our risk management and reinsurance management strategy, which outlines our use of reinsurance in Australia.

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In setting minimum capital levels for mortgage insurers, APRA requires them to assure they have sufficient capital to withstand a hypothetical three-year stress loss scenario defined by APRA. These regulations increase mortgage insurers’ capital requirements for insured loans that are considered to be non-standard. APRA also imposes quarterly reporting obligations on mortgage insurers with respect to risk profiles, reinsurance arrangements and financial position.

During 2010, APRA issued detailed proposals to revise the capital requirements for all insurers it regulates. APRA is currently revising its original proposals following receipt of feedback from the industry. Publication of the new capital requirement regulations is expected sometime in 2011 with an effective date in 2013. We are currently unable to determine the impact that these new regulations will have on our regulatory capital requirements.

In addition, APRA determines the capital requirements for depository institutions and provides for reduced capital requirements for certain depository institutions that insure residential mortgages with an “acceptable” mortgage insurer for all non-standard mortgages and for standard mortgages with loan-to-value ratios above 80%. APRA’s regulations currently set out a number of circumstances in which a loan may be considered to be non-standard from a depository institution’s perspective. APRA rules also provide that LMI on a non-performing loan (90 days plus arrears) protects most depository institutions from having to increase the regulatory capital on the loan to a risk-weighting of 100%. These regulations include a definition of an “acceptable” mortgage insurer and eliminate the reduced capital requirements for depository institutions in the event that the mortgage insurer has contractual recourse to the depository institution or a member of the depository institution’s consolidated group.

In December 2010, the Australian government announced a series of banking reforms designed to promote greater competition in the Australian banking industry. One key aspect of the proposals involved boosting consumer flexibility to transfer deposits and mortgages. In particular, the Australian government announced that it would instruct the Australian treasury department to accelerate the development of potential frameworks to transfer LMI policies between lenders and introduce a central registry for mortgages. Currently, LMI policies are not transportable between lenders and are issued to a particular lender in respect of a particular loan. In our Australian mortgage insurance business, we offer rebate options to lenders whereby up to 40% of the premium is refunded to the consumer if the loan is discharged in the first year, decreasing to 20% in the second year of the mortgage, although many lenders elect to take a non-refundable option in order to receive a lower overall premium structure. We cannot predict the outcome of the proposed reforms and there is risk that any such reforms, in the area of transferability of mortgages and LMI, may impact our financial returns and profitability.

APRA has the power to impose restrictions on our ability to declare and pay dividends based on a number of factors, including the impact on our minimum regulatory capital ratio.

United Kingdom and Europe

The United Kingdom is a member of the European Union and applies the harmonized system of regulation set out in the European Union directives. Our authorization to provide mortgage insurance in the United Kingdom enables us to offer our products in all the European Union member states, subject to certain regulatory requirements of the FSA and, in some cases, local regulatory requirements. We can provide mortgage insurance only in the classes for which we have authorization under applicable regulations and must maintain required risk and capital reserves. We are also subject to the oversight of other regulatory agencies in other countries throughout Europe where we do business. For more information about U.K. insurance regulation that affects our mortgage subsidiaries that operate in the United Kingdom, see “—U.K. Insurance Regulation.”

Other Non-U.S. Insurance Regulation

We operate in a number of countries around the world in addition to the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, including Mexico, Guernsey and Bermuda. Generally, our subsidiaries (and in some

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cases our branches) conducting business in these countries must obtain licenses from local regulatory authorities and satisfy local regulatory requirements, including those relating to rates, forms, capital, reserves and financial reporting.

Other Laws and Regulations

Securities regulation

Certain of our U.S. subsidiaries and certain policies, contracts and services offered by them, are subject to regulation under federal and state securities laws and regulations of the SEC, state securities regulators and FINRA. Certain of our U.S. subsidiaries are investment advisors registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 or applicable state securities laws. Certain of their employees are licensed as investment advisory representatives in states as required by state law. Two of our U.S. investment adviser subsidiaries manage investment companies that are registered with the SEC under the Investment Company Act of 1940. In addition, most of our insurance company separate accounts are registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Most of our variable annuity contracts and all of our variable life insurance policies, as well as our FABNs issued by one of our U.S. subsidiaries as part of our registered notes program are registered under the Securities Act of 1933. Certain of our U.S. subsidiaries are registered and regulated as broker/dealers under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are members of, and subject to regulation by FINRA, as well as by various state and local regulators. The registered representatives of our broker/dealers are also regulated by the SEC and FINRA and are subject to applicable state and local laws.

These laws and regulations are primarily intended to protect investors in the securities markets and generally grant supervisory agencies broad administrative powers, including the power to limit or restrict the conduct of business for failure to comply with such laws and regulations. In such event, the possible sanctions that may be imposed include suspension of individual employees, limitations on the activities in which the investment adviser or broker/dealer may engage, suspension or revocation of the investment adviser or broker/ dealer registration, censure or fines. We may also be subject to similar laws and regulations in the states and other countries in which we provide investment advisory services, offer the products described above or conduct other securities-related activities.

Certain of our U.S. subsidiaries also sponsor and manage investment vehicles that rely on certain exemptions from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Securities Act of 1933. Nevertheless, certain provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Securities Act of 1933 apply to these investment vehicles and the securities issued by such vehicles in certain circumstances. The Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933, including the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, are subject to change, which may affect our U.S. subsidiaries that sponsor and manage such investment vehicles.

The SEC, FINRA, state attorneys general, other federal offices and the New York Stock Exchange may conduct periodic examinations, in addition to special or targeted examinations of us and/or specific products. These examinations or inquiries may include, but are not necessarily limited to, product disclosures and sales issues, financial and accounting disclosure and operational issues. Often examinations are “sweep exams” whereby the regulator reviews current issues facing the financial or insurance industry as a whole.

Reverse mortgage regulation

Genworth Financial Home Equity Access, Inc. (“GFHEA”), our wholly-owned subsidiary, is an originator of reverse mortgage loans. GFHEA is subject to various federal and state laws and regulations including mortgage banking laws and regulations (“Mortgage Banking Laws”), as well as other federal and state laws and regulations protecting privacy and other consumer rights. GFHEA is regulated by the mortgage banking departments of the states in which it is licensed, as well as the FHA with respect to loans insured through HUD.

In addition, mortgage banking authorities (including state law enforcement agencies and attorneys general) increasingly make inquiries regarding compliance with Mortgage Banking Laws and other applicable laws and

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regulations, and we cooperate with such inquiries and take corrective action when warranted. HUD conducts periodic, detailed examinations of the loans and business practices of issuers of reverse mortgage loans it insures.

Environmental considerations

As an owner and operator of real property, we are subject to extensive U.S. federal and state and non-U.S. environmental laws and regulations. Potential environmental liabilities and costs in connection with any required remediation of such properties is also an inherent risk in property ownership and operation. In addition, we hold equity interests in companies, and have made loans secured by properties, that could potentially be subject to environmental liabilities. We routinely have environmental assessments performed with respect to real estate being acquired for investment and real property to be acquired through foreclosure. We cannot provide assurance that unexpected environmental liabilities will not arise. However, based upon information currently available to us, we believe that any costs associated with compliance with environmental laws and regulations or any remediation of such properties will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

ERISA considerations

We provide certain products and services to employee benefit plans that are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) or the Internal Revenue Code. As such, our activities are subject to the restrictions imposed by ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code, including the requirement under ERISA that fiduciaries must perform their duties solely in the interests of ERISA plan participants and beneficiaries, and fiduciaries may not cause or permit a covered plan to engage in certain prohibited transactions with persons who have certain relationships with respect to such plans. The applicable provisions of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code are subject to enforcement by the U.S. Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

USA PATRIOT Act

The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (the “Patriot Act”), enacted in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, contains anti-money laundering and financial transparency laws and mandates the implementation of various new regulations applicable to broker/dealers and other financial services companies including insurance companies. The Patriot Act seeks to promote cooperation among financial institutions, regulators and law enforcement entities in identifying parties who may be involved in terrorism or money laundering. Anti-money laundering laws outside of the United States contain similar provisions. The increased obligations of financial institutions to identify their customers, watch for and report suspicious transactions, respond to requests for information by regulatory authorities and law enforcement agencies, and share information with other financial institutions, require the implementation and maintenance of internal practices, procedures and controls. We believe that we have implemented, and that we maintain, appropriate internal practices, procedures and controls to enable us to comply with the provisions of the Patriot Act. Certain additional requirements became applicable under the Patriot Act in May 2006 through a U.S. Treasury regulation which required that certain insurers have anti-money laundering compliance plans in place. We believe our internal practices, procedures and controls comply with these requirements.

Privacy of consumer information

U.S. federal and state laws and regulations require financial institutions, including insurance companies, to protect the security and confidentiality of consumer financial information and to notify consumers about the companies’ policies and practices relating to their collection and disclosure of consumer information and their policies relating to protecting the security and confidentiality of that information. Similarly, federal and state laws and regulations also govern the disclosure and security of consumer health information. In particular, regulations promulgated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission regulate the disclosure and use of protected health information by health insurers and others, the

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physical and procedural safeguards employed to protect the security of that information, including certain notice requirements in the event of security breaches, and the electronic transmission of such information. Congress and state legislatures are expected to consider additional legislation relating to privacy and other aspects of consumer information.

In Europe, the collection and use of personal information is subject to strict regulation. The European Union’s Data Protection Directive establishes a series of privacy requirements that European Union member states are obliged to enact into their national legislation. Certain European Union countries have additional national law requirements regarding the use of private data. Other European countries that are not European Union member states have similar privacy requirements in their national laws. These requirements generally apply to all businesses, including insurance companies. In general, companies may process personal information only if consent has been obtained from the individuals concerned or if certain other conditions are met. These other requirements include the provision of notice to customers and other persons concerning how their personal information is used and disclosed, limitations on the transfer of personal information to countries outside the European Union, registration with the national privacy authorities, where applicable, and the use of appropriate information security measures against the access or use of personal information by unauthorized persons. Similar laws and regulations protecting the security and confidentiality of consumer and financial information are also in effect in Canada, Australia and other countries in which we operate.

Employees

As of December 31, 2010, we had approximately 6,500 full-time and part-time employees. We believe our employee relations are satisfactory.

Directors and Executive Officers

See Part III, Item 10 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for information about our directors and executive officers.

Available Information

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act are available, without charge, on our website, www.genworth.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after we file such reports with the SEC. Our SEC filings are also accessible through the Internet on the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. Copies are also available, without charge, from Genworth Investor Relations, 6620 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23230.

Our website also includes the charters of our Audit Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, Legal and Public Affairs Committee, and Management Development and Compensation Committee, any key practices of these committees, our Governance Principles, and our company’s code of ethics. Copies of these materials also are available, without charge, from Genworth Investor Relations, at the above address. Within the time period required by the SEC and the New York Stock Exchange, we will post on our website any amendment to our code of ethics and any waiver applicable to any of our directors, executive officers or senior financial officers.

On May 27, 2010, our Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer certified to the New York Stock Exchange that he was not aware of any violation by us of the New York Stock Exchange’s corporate governance listing standards.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

Our Transfer Agent and Registrar is The Bank of New York Mellon Shareowner Services, P.O. Box 358015, Pittsburgh, PA 15252-8015. Telephone: 866-229-8413; 201-680-6578 (outside the United States and Canada may call collect); and 800-231-5469 (for hearing impaired).

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You should carefully consider the following risks. These risks could materially affect our business, results of operations or financial condition, cause the trading price of our common stock to decline materially or cause our actual results to differ materially from those expected or those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf. These risks are not exclusive, and additional risks to which we are subject include, but are not limited to, the factors mentioned under “Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements” and the risks of our businesses described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010.

Risks Relating to Our Businesses

Downturns and volatility in global economies and equity and credit markets could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our results of operations are materially affected by the state of the global economies in which we operate and conditions in the capital markets we access. Factors such as higher unemployment, lower consumer spending, lower business investment, higher government spending, the volatility and strength of the global capital markets, and inflation all affect the business and economic environment and, ultimately, the amount and profitability of our business. The recessionary state and the volatility of many economies have fueled uncertainty and downturns in global mortgage markets have contributed to increased volatility in our business and results of operations. This uncertainty and volatility has impacted, and may continue to impact, the demand for certain financial and insurance products. As a result, we may experience an elevated incidence of claims and lapses or surrenders of policies, and some of our policyholders may choose to defer paying insurance premiums or stop paying insurance premiums altogether.

If domestic and international equity and credit markets experience heightened volatility and turmoil, issuers that have exposure to the mortgage and credit markets would be particularly affected. These events would have an adverse effect on us, in part because we have exposure to such issuers in our investment portfolio and also because such events can influence customer behavior. In addition, given continuing economic challenges, issuers of the fixed-income securities and commercial mortgage loans that we own may default on principal and interest payments and we could experience significant declines in the value of our investment portfolio. Securities that are less liquid could also become more difficult to value and could be hard to dispose of in this economic environment.

The economic downturn has had, and continues to have, an adverse effect on our ability to efficiently access capital markets for capital management purposes, including the issuance of fixed and floating rate non-recourse funding obligations for purposes of supporting our term and universal life insurance products. If credit markets remain tight, this could have a continuing adverse impact on our profitability, liquidity and access to funding opportunities.

Downturns and volatility in equity markets may also cause some existing customers to withdraw cash values or reduce investments in our separate account products, which include variable annuities. In addition, if the performance of the underlying mutual funds in the separate account products experience downturns and volatility for an extended period of time, the payment of any living benefit guarantee available in certain variable annuity products may have an adverse effect on us, because more payments will be required to come from general account assets than from contractholder separate account investments. Continued equity market volatility could result in additional losses in our variable annuity products and associated hedging program which will further challenge our ability to recover deferred acquisition costs (“DAC”) on these products and could lead to additional write-offs of DAC, as well as increased hedging costs.

Our revenues and returns from our mutual fund wrapped and separately managed account products and services could also be impacted by downturns and volatility in equity markets. Because these products and services generate fees generally from the value of assets under management, a decline in the equity markets

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could reduce our revenues by reducing the value of the investment assets we manage. Downturns in equity markets could also lead to an increase in liabilities associated with secondary guarantee features, such as guaranteed minimum benefits on separate account products, where we have equity market risk exposure.

A downgrade or a potential downgrade in our financial strength or credit ratings could result in a loss of business and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Financial strength ratings, which various rating agencies publish as measures of an insurance company’s ability to meet contractholder and policyholder obligations, are important to maintaining public confidence in our products, the ability to market our products and our competitive position. Credit ratings, which rating agencies publish as measures of an entity’s ability to repay its indebtedness, are important to our ability to raise capital through the issuance of debt and to the cost of such financing.

A ratings downgrade could occur for a variety of reasons, including reasons specifically related to our company, generally related to our industry or the broader financial services industry or as a result of changes by the rating agencies in their methodologies or rating criteria. A negative outlook on our ratings or a downgrade in any of our financial strength or credit ratings, the announcement of a potential downgrade, or customer concerns about the possibility of a downgrade, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. These direct or indirect effects could include:

In addition, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require maintenance of a financial strength rating by at least two out of three listed rating agencies (S&P, Fitch and Moody’s) of at least “AA-”/“Aa3” (as applicable); otherwise additional limitations or requirements may be in the case of Fannie Mae or will be in the case of Freddie Mac imposed for eligibility to insure loans purchased by the GSEs. In February 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac temporarily suspended their ratings requirements for top tier mortgage insurers, subject to submission of an acceptable remediation plan. We have submitted remediation plans to both GSEs and to date have not been advised that either intends to impose additional requirements upon us. As of December 31, 2010, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased the majority of the flow loans we insured in the United States. An inability to insure mortgage loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or their transfer of our existing policies to an alternative mortgage insurer, would have a materially adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Interest rate fluctuations and levels could adversely affect our business and profitability.

Our insurance and investment products are sensitive to interest rate fluctuations and expose us to the risk that falling interest rates or credit spreads will reduce our margin or the difference between the returns we earn

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on the investments that support our obligations under these products and the amounts that we must pay to policyholders and contractholders. Because we may reduce the interest rates we credit on most of these products only at limited, pre-established intervals, and because some contracts have guaranteed minimum interest crediting rates, declines in interest rates have adversely affected, and may continue to adversely affect, the profitability of these products.

During periods of increasing market interest rates, we may offer higher crediting rates on interest-sensitive products, such as universal life insurance and fixed annuities, and we may increase crediting rates on in-force products to keep these products competitive. In addition, rapidly rising interest rates may cause increased policy surrenders, withdrawals from life insurance policies and annuity contracts and requests for policy loans, as policyholders and contractholders shift assets into higher yielding investments. Increases in crediting rates, as well as surrenders and withdrawals, could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our life and long-term care insurance products also expose us to the risk of interest rate fluctuations. The pricing and expected future profitability of these products are based in part on expected investment returns. Over time, life and long-term care insurance products generally produce positive cash flows as customers pay periodic premiums, which we invest as they are received. Low interest rates reduce our ability to achieve our targeted investment margins and may adversely affect the profitability of our life and long-term care insurance products.

In both the U.S. and international mortgage markets, rising interest rates generally reduce the volume of new mortgage originations. A decline in the volume of new mortgage originations would have an adverse effect on our new mortgage insurance written. Rising interest rates also can increase the monthly mortgage payments for insured homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages (“ARMs”) that could have the effect of increasing default rates on ARM loans and thereby increasing our exposure on our mortgage insurance policies. This is particularly relevant in our international mortgage insurance business where ARMs are the predominant mortgage product.

Declining interest rates historically have increased the rate at which borrowers refinance their existing mortgages, thereby resulting in cancellations of the mortgage insurance covering the refinanced loans. Declining interest rates historically also have contributed to home price appreciation, which may provide borrowers in the United States with the option of cancelling their mortgage insurance coverage earlier than we anticipated when pricing that coverage. These cancellations could have an adverse effect on our results from our U.S. mortgage insurance business. However, under current housing market conditions, we are in a period of home price depreciation in a majority of markets. Consequently, some borrowers in the United States do not have sufficient equity to allow refinancing of existing higher rate ARMs for lower rate mortgage loans, an action that would typically result in the cancellation of existing mortgage insurance coverage. Such borrowers are now contributing to higher delinquencies and foreclosures where they are not able to meet the reset higher monthly payments due under the terms of the underlying ARMs. These developments have had an adverse impact on our U.S. mortgage insurance business.

Interest rate fluctuations also could have an adverse effect on the results of our investment portfolio. During periods of declining market interest rates, the interest we receive on variable interest rate investments decreases. In addition, during those periods, we are forced to reinvest the cash we receive as interest or return of principal on our investments in lower-yielding high-grade instruments or in lower-credit instruments to maintain comparable returns. Issuers of fixed-income securities may also decide to prepay their obligations in order to borrow at lower market rates, which exacerbates the risk that we may have to invest the cash proceeds of these securities in lower-yielding or lower-credit instruments. During periods of increasing interest rates, market values of our interest rate hedges will decline which will require us to post additional collateral with our derivative counterparties.

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Adverse capital and credit market conditions may significantly affect our access to capital and may affect our ability to meet liquidity or refinancing requirements in the future.

In the event market or other conditions have an adverse impact on our capital and liquidity needs beyond expectations and our sources of liquidity do not satisfy our needs, we could have to seek additional funding. Funding sources could potentially include the generation of proceeds from the sale of assets (including assets in our investment portfolio, blocks of business or all or a portion of a business) or the incurrence of additional debt. In addition, funding sources could potentially include issuing equity, with any decision to issue equity thoroughly considering the degree to which such an equity issuance would dilute current stockholders’ value. All such funding sources can have various impacts on our financial condition, including book value, and results of operations.

The availability of additional funding will depend on a variety of factors such as market conditions, regulatory considerations, the general availability of credit, the overall availability of credit to the financial services industry, the level of activity and availability of reinsurers or acquirers of assets, our credit ratings and credit capacity and the performance of and outlook for our business. Market conditions may make it difficult to obtain funding or complete asset sales to generate additional liquidity, especially on short notice. Our access to funding may be further impaired if our credit or financial strength ratings are negatively impacted.

Our valuation of fixed maturity, equity and trading securities may include methodologies, estimations and assumptions that are subject to differing interpretations and could result in changes to investment valuations that may materially adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition.

Fixed maturity, equity and trading securities are reported at fair value on our consolidated balance sheets. They represent the majority of our total cash, cash equivalents and invested assets. Our portfolio of fixed maturity securities consists primarily of investment grade securities. Valuations may include inputs and assumptions that are less observable or require greater estimation, as well as valuation methods that are more sophisticated or require greater estimation, thereby resulting in values that are less certain and may vary significantly from the value at which the investments may be ultimately sold. The methodologies, estimates and assumptions we use in valuing our investment securities evolve over time and are subject to different interpretation (including based on developments in relevant accounting literature), all of which can lead to changes in the value of our investment securities. Rapidly changing and unprecedented credit and equity market conditions could materially impact the valuation of investment securities as reported within our consolidated financial statements, and the period-to-period changes in value could vary significantly. Decreases in value may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition.

Defaults, downgrades or other events impacting the value of our fixed maturity securities portfolio may reduce our income.

We are subject to the risk that the issuers or guarantors of fixed maturity securities we own may default on principal or interest payments they owe us. As of December 31, 2010, fixed maturity securities of $55.2 billion in our investment portfolio represented 77% of our total cash, cash equivalents and invested assets. Events reducing the value of our investment portfolio other than on a temporary basis could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Levels of write-downs or impairments are impacted by our assessment of the financial condition of the issuer, whether or not the issuer is expected to pay its principal and interest obligations or circumstances that would require us to sell securities which have declined in value. Continued volatility and uncertainty in the sub-prime and Alt-A residential market have resulted in increased delinquency rates and these developments have had an adverse impact on our investments in securities backed by sub-prime and Alt-A residential mortgage loans. The credit quality of our hybrid securities may be adversely impacted by the level and type of government support, including the risk that these institutions could be restricted from making discretionary payments of principal or interest. If we determine to reposition or realign portions of the portfolio where we determine to sell certain securities in an unrealized loss position, then we will incur an other-than-temporary impairment charge.

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Defaults on our commercial mortgage loans or the mortgage loans underlying our investments in commercial mortgage-backed securities and volatility in performance may adversely affect our profitability.

Our commercial mortgage loans and investments in commercial mortgage-backed securities face default risk. Commercial mortgage loans are stated on our consolidated balance sheets at unpaid principal balance, adjusted for any unamortized premium or discount, deferred fees or expenses, and are net of impairments and valuation allowances. We establish valuation allowances for estimated impairments as of the balance sheet date based on information, such as the market value of the underlying real estate securing the loan, any third-party guarantees on the loan balance or any cross collateral agreements and their impact on expected recovery rates. Commercial mortgage-backed securities are stated on our consolidated balance sheets at fair value. In addition, some of our commercial mortgage loans and the underlying mortgage loans supporting our investments in commercial mortgage-backed securities have balloon payment maturities.

Further, any concentration of geographic or sector exposure in our commercial mortgage loans or the mortgage loans underlying our investments in commercial mortgage-backed securities may have adverse effects on our investment portfolio and consequently on our consolidated results of operations or financial condition. While we seek to mitigate this risk by having a broadly diversified portfolio, events or developments that have a negative effect on any particular geographic region or sector may have a greater adverse effect on the investment portfolios to the extent that the portfolios are exposed.

We may be required to recognize additional impairments in the value of our goodwill, which would increase our expenses and reduce our U.S. GAAP profitability.

Goodwill represents the excess of the amount we paid to acquire our subsidiaries and other businesses over the fair value of their net assets at the date of the acquisition. Under U.S. GAAP, we test the carrying value of goodwill for impairment at least annually at the “reporting unit” level, which is either an operating segment or a business one level below the operating segment. Goodwill is impaired if the fair value of the reporting unit as a whole is less than the fair value of the identifiable assets and liabilities of the reporting unit, plus the carrying value of goodwill, at the date of the test. For example, goodwill may become impaired if the fair value of a reporting unit as a whole were to decline by an amount greater than the decline in the value of its individually identifiable assets and liabilities. This may occur for various reasons, including changes in actual or expected income or cash flows of a reporting unit or generation of income by a reporting unit at a lower rate of return than similar businesses or for decreases in our market capitalization. If any portion of our goodwill becomes impaired, we would be required to recognize the amount of the impairment as a non-cash expense in the current period. See note 8 in our consolidated financial statements under “Item 8—Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for additional information related to goodwill.

If the counterparties to our reinsurance arrangements or to the derivative instruments we use to hedge our business risks default or fail to perform, we may be exposed to risks we had sought to mitigate, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We routinely execute reinsurance and derivative transactions with brokers and dealers, commercial banks, investment banks and other institutional clients. Many of these transactions expose us to credit risk in the event of default of our counterparty or client. We use reinsurance and derivative instruments to mitigate our risks in various circumstances. Reinsurance does not relieve us of our direct liability to our policyholders, even when the reinsurer is liable to us. Accordingly, we bear credit risk with respect to our reinsurers. We cannot assure you that our reinsurers will pay the reinsurance recoverable owed to us now or in the future or that they will pay these recoverables on a timely basis. A reinsurer’s insolvency, inability or unwillingness to make payments under the terms of its reinsurance agreement with us could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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Prior to the completion of our IPO, we ceded to UFLIC substantially all of our in-force structured settlements block of business, variable annuity business and the long-term care insurance assumed from MetLife Insurance Company of Connecticut as of December 31, 2003. UFLIC has established trust accounts for our benefit to secure its obligations under the reinsurance arrangements, and General Electric Capital Corporation (“GE Capital”), an indirect subsidiary of General Electric Company (“GE”), has agreed to maintain UFLIC’s RBC above a specified minimum level. If UFLIC becomes insolvent notwithstanding this agreement, and the amounts in the trust accounts are insufficient to pay UFLIC’s obligations to us, our financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

In addition, we use derivative instruments to hedge various business risks. We enter into a variety of derivative instruments, including options and interest rate and currency swaps with a number of counterparties. If our counterparties fail or refuse to honor their obligations under the derivative instruments, our hedges of the related risk will be ineffective. This failure could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

An adverse change in our risk-based capital and other regulatory requirements could result in a decline in our ratings and/or increased scrutiny by regulators and have an adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Our domestic life insurance company subsidiaries are subject to RBC standards and other minimum statutory capital and surplus requirements imposed under the laws of their respective states of domicile. The failure of our insurance subsidiaries to meet applicable RBC requirements or minimum statutory capital and surplus requirements could subject our insurance subsidiaries to further examination or corrective action imposed by state insurance regulators, including limitations on their ability to write additional business, state supervision, seizure or liquidation.

Our domestic mortgage insurers are not subject to the NAIC’s RBC requirements but are required by certain states and other regulators to maintain a certain risk-to-capital ratio. The failure of our domestic mortgage insurance subsidiaries to meet their regulatory requirements could limit our ability to write new business. As of January 31, 2011, our primary U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiary, GEMICO, slightly exceeded the 25:1 risk-to-capital requirement. However, GEMICO was granted a revocable two-year risk-to-capital waiver, effective January 31, 2011, by the NCDOI. The waiver, which the NCDOI can modify or terminate at its discretion, gives GEMICO the ability to continue to write new business in North Carolina during the period covered by the waiver, notwithstanding that GEMICO’s risk-to-capital ratio exceeds 25:1. Given that the NCDOI is GEMICO’s domiciliary insurance regulator, the effect of the waiver similarly extends to the 34 states that do not have their own risk-to-capital requirements, thereby enabling GEMICO to continue to write business in those states so long as it is permitted to do so in North Carolina under the NCDOI’s waiver or because its risk-to-capital ratio decreases below 25:1. Further, so as to be able to write new business out of GEMICO in the remaining states which do have separate minimum risk-to-capital requirements, we are also pursuing similar waivers of the risk-to-capital requirement with other state regulators where the authority to grant a waiver exists. Additionally, our international insurance subsidiaries also have minimum regulatory requirements which vary by country.

An adverse change in our RBC, risk-to-capital ratio or other minimum regulatory requirements also could cause rating agencies to downgrade the financial strength ratings of our insurance subsidiaries and the credit ratings of our holding company, which would have an adverse impact on our ability to write and retain business. Certain actions by regulators or rating agencies could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

If our reserves for future policy claims are inadequate, we may be required to increase our reserve liabilities, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We calculate and maintain reserves for estimated future payments of claims to our policyholders and contractholders in accordance with U.S. GAAP and industry accounting practices. We release these reserves as

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those future obligations are extinguished. The reserves we establish reflect estimates and actuarial assumptions with regard to our future experience. These estimates and actuarial assumptions involve the exercise of significant judgment. Our future financial results depend significantly upon the extent to which our actual future experience is consistent with the assumptions we have used in pricing our products and determining our reserves. Many factors can affect future experience, including economic and social conditions, inflation, healthcare costs, policyholder persistency (resulting in adverse claims experience), and changes in doctrines of legal liability and damage awards in litigation. Therefore, we cannot determine with precision the ultimate amounts we will pay for actual claims or the timing of those payments.

We regularly monitor our reserves. If we conclude that our reserves are insufficient to cover actual or expected policy and contract benefits and claim payments, we would be required to increase our reserves and incur charges for the period in which we make the determination, which would adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition and may put additional strain on our available liquidity.

As a holding company, we depend on the ability of our subsidiaries to transfer funds to us to pay dividends and to meet our obligations.

We act as a holding company for our subsidiaries and do not have any significant operations of our own. Dividends from our subsidiaries and permitted payments to us under our tax sharing arrangements with our subsidiaries are our principal sources of cash to meet our obligations. These obligations include our operating expenses and interest and principal on our current and any future borrowings. These obligations also include amounts we owe to GE under the Tax Matters Agreement. If the cash we receive from our subsidiaries pursuant to dividends and tax sharing arrangements is insufficient for us to fund any of these obligations, or if a subsidiary is unable to pay dividends to us, we may be required to raise cash through the incurrence of debt, the issuance of additional equity or the sale of assets.

The payment of dividends and other distributions to us by each of our insurance subsidiaries is regulated by insurance laws and regulations. In general, dividends in excess of prescribed limits are deemed “extraordinary” and require insurance regulatory approval. In addition, insurance regulators may prohibit the payment of ordinary dividends or other payments by our insurance subsidiaries to us (such as a payment under a tax sharing agreement or for employee or other services) if they determine that such payment could be adverse to our policyholders or contractholders.

Additionally, as a public company that is traded on the TMX, Genworth Canada is subject to securities laws and regulation in each province in Canada, as well as the rules of the TMX. These applicable laws, regulations and rules include but are not limited to, obligations and procedures in respect of the equal and fair treatment of all shareholders of Genworth Canada. Although the board of directors of Genworth Canada is composed of a majority of Genworth nominees, under Canadian law each director has an obligation to act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of Genworth Canada. Accordingly, actions taken by Genworth Canada and its board of directors (including the payment of dividends to us) are subject to, and may be limited by, the laws, regulations and rules applicable to such entities.

Competitors could negatively affect our ability to maintain or increase our market share and profitability.

Our businesses are subject to intense competition. We believe the principal competitive factors in the sale of our products are product features, product investment returns, price, commission structure, marketing and distribution arrangements, brand, reputation, financial strength ratings and service. In many of our product lines, we face competition from competitors that have greater market share or breadth of distribution, offer a broader range of products, services or features, assume a greater level of risk, have lower profitability expectations or have higher financial strength ratings than we do. Many competitors offer similar products and use similar distribution channels. The appointment of a receiver to rehabilitate or liquidate a significant competitor could also negatively impact our businesses if such appointment were to impact consumer confidence in industry products and services.

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Reinsurance may not be available, affordable or adequate to protect us against losses.

As part of our overall risk and capital management strategy, we have historically purchased reinsurance from external reinsurers as well as provided internal reinsurance support for certain risks underwritten by our various business segments. The availability and cost of reinsurance protection are impacted by our operating and financial performance as well as conditions beyond our control. For example, volatility in the equity markets and the related impacts on asset values required to fund liabilities may reduce the availability of certain types of reinsurance and make it more costly when it is available, as reinsurers are less willing to take on credit risk in a volatile market. Accordingly, we may be forced to incur additional expenses for reinsurance or may not be able to obtain sufficient new reinsurance on acceptable terms, which could adversely affect our ability to write future business or obtain statutory capital credit for new reinsurance.

Our focus on key distribution relationships may expose us to reduced sales in the future.

Although we distribute our products through a wide variety of distribution models, we do maintain relationships with key distribution partners. These distribution partners are an integral part of our business model. If capital, credit and equity markets experience extreme volatility, we are at risk that key distribution partners may merge, change their distribution model affecting how our products are sold, or terminate their distribution contract with us. In addition, timing of key distributor adoption of our new product offerings may impact sales of those products. Distributors may elect to reduce or terminate their distribution relationships with us if there are adverse developments in our business, adverse rating agency actions, concerns about market-related risks or the breadth of our product offerings. Any termination or material change in relationship with a key distribution partner could have a material adverse affect on our future sales for one or more product lines. For example, our decision to cease offering new variable annuity products could cause distributors to choose to terminate their distribution relationship with us if they elect to focus on our competitors that offer greater product breadth.

Our insurance businesses are heavily regulated and changes in regulation may reduce our profitability and limit our growth.

Our insurance operations are subject to a wide variety of laws and regulations. State insurance laws regulate most aspects of our U.S. insurance businesses, and our insurance subsidiaries are regulated by the insurance departments of the states in which they are domiciled and licensed. Our international operations are principally regulated by insurance regulatory authorities in the jurisdictions in which they are domiciled.

Insurance regulatory authorities in the United States and internationally have broad administrative powers with respect to, among other things:

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State insurance regulators and the NAIC regularly re-examine existing laws and regulations applicable to insurance companies and their products. In addition, changes proposed to federal regulations in December 2010 could impact the FHLB program. The FHLB program serves as a low cost alternative funding source for our businesses. Changes in these laws and regulations, or in interpretations thereof in the United States, can be made for the benefit of the consumer, or for other reasons, at the expense of the insurer and thus could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Regulators in the United States and internationally are developing criteria under which they may subject non-bank financial companies, including insurance companies, that are deemed systemically important to higher regulatory capital requirements and stricter prudential standards. We cannot predict whether we or any of our subsidiaries will be deemed systemically important or how such a designation might impact our business, results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

Our mortgage insurance businesses are subject to additional laws and regulations. For a discussion of the risks associated with those laws and regulations, see “—Risks Relating to Our International Segment” and “—Risks Relating to Our U.S. Mortgage Insurance Segment.”

Legal and regulatory investigations and actions are common in the insurance business and may result in financial losses and harm our reputation.

We face the risk of litigation and regulatory investigations and actions in the ordinary course of operating our businesses, including class action lawsuits. Our pending legal and regulatory actions include proceedings specific to us and others generally applicable to business practices in the industries in which we operate. In our insurance operations, we are, have been, or may become subject to class actions and individual suits alleging, among other things, issues relating to sales or underwriting practices, increases to in-force long-term care insurance premiums, payment of contingent or other sales commissions, bidding practices in connection with our management and administration of a third party’s municipal guaranteed investment contract business, claims payments and procedures, cancellation or rescission of coverage, product design, product disclosure, administration, additional premium charges for premiums paid on a periodic basis, denial or delay of benefits, charging excessive or impermissible fees on products, recommending unsuitable products to customers, our pricing structures and business practices in our mortgage insurance businesses, such as captive reinsurance arrangements with lenders and contract underwriting services, violations of RESPA or related state anti-inducement laws and breaching fiduciary or other duties to customers. Plaintiffs in class action and other lawsuits against us may seek very large or indeterminate amounts, which may remain unknown for substantial periods of time. In our investment-related operations, we are subject to litigation involving commercial disputes with counterparties. We are also subject to litigation arising out of our general business activities such as our contractual and employment relationships. In addition, we are also subject to various regulatory inquiries, such as information requests, subpoenas, books and record examinations and market conduct and financial examinations, from state, federal and international regulators and other authorities. A substantial legal liability or a significant regulatory action against us could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, even if we ultimately prevail in the litigation, regulatory action or investigation, we could suffer significant reputational harm, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. At this time, it is not feasible to predict, nor determine, the ultimate outcomes of any pending investigations and legal proceedings, nor to provide reasonable ranges of possible losses.

For further discussion of current investigations and proceedings in which we are involved, see “Item 3—Legal Proceedings.” We cannot assure you that these investigations and proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. It is also possible that we could become subject to further investigations and have lawsuits filed or enforcement actions initiated against us. In

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addition, increased regulatory scrutiny and any resulting investigations or proceedings could result in new legal precedents and industry-wide regulations or practices that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our computer systems may fail or their security may be compromised, which could damage our business and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our business is highly dependent upon the effective operation of our computer systems. We rely on these systems throughout our business for a variety of functions, including processing claims and applications, providing information to customers and distributors, performing actuarial analyses and maintaining financial records. Despite the implementation of security and back-up measures, our computer systems may be vulnerable to physical or electronic intrusions, computer viruses or other attacks, programming errors and similar disruptive problems. The failure of these systems for any reason could cause significant interruptions to our operations, which could result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We retain confidential information in our computer systems, and we rely on sophisticated commercial technologies to maintain the security of those systems. Anyone who is able to circumvent our security measures and penetrate our computer systems could access, view, misappropriate, alter, or delete any information in the systems, including personally identifiable customer information and proprietary business information. In addition, an increasing number of states and foreign countries require that customers be notified if a security breach results in the disclosure of personally identifiable customer information. Any compromise of the security of our computer systems that results in inappropriate disclosure of personally identifiable customer information could damage our reputation in the marketplace, deter people from purchasing our products, subject us to significant civil and criminal liability and require us to incur significant technical, legal and other expenses.

The occurrence of natural or man-made disasters or a pandemic could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We are exposed to various risks arising out of natural disasters, including earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and tornadoes, and man-made disasters, including acts of terrorism and military actions and pandemics. For example, a natural or man-made disaster or a pandemic could lead to unexpected changes in persistency rates as policyholders and contractholders who are affected by the disaster may be unable to meet their contractual obligations, such as payment of premiums on our insurance policies, deposits into our investment products, and mortgage payments on loans insured by our mortgage insurance policies. They could also significantly increase our mortality and morbidity experience above the assumptions we used in pricing our insurance and investment products. The continued threat of terrorism and ongoing military actions may cause significant volatility in global financial markets, and a natural or man-made disaster or a pandemic could trigger an economic downturn in the areas directly or indirectly affected by the disaster. These consequences could, among other things, result in a decline in business and increased claims from those areas, as well as an adverse effect on home prices in those areas, which could result in increased loss experience in our mortgage insurance businesses. Disasters or a pandemic also could disrupt public and private infrastructure, including communications and financial services, which could disrupt our normal business operations.

A natural or man-made disaster or a pandemic could also disrupt the operations of our counterparties or result in increased prices for the products and services they provide to us. For example, a natural or man-made disaster or a pandemic could lead to increased reinsurance prices and potentially cause us to retain more risk than we otherwise would retain if we were able to obtain reinsurance at lower prices. In addition, a disaster or a pandemic could adversely affect the value of the assets in our investment portfolio if it affects companies’ ability to pay principal or interest on their securities. See “—We may face losses if there are significant deviations from our assumptions regarding the future persistency of our insurance policies and annuity contracts” and “—A further deterioration in economic conditions or a further decline in home prices may adversely affect our loss experience in mortgage insurance.”

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The enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will subject us to additional federal regulation, and we cannot predict the effect of such regulation on our business, results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

In July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act was enacted and signed into law. The Dodd-Frank Act made extensive changes to the laws regulating financial services firms and requires various federal agencies to adopt a broad range of new implementing rules and regulations.

Among other provisions, the Dodd-Frank Act provides for a new framework of regulation of OTC derivatives markets which will require us to clear certain types of transactions currently traded in the OTC derivative markets and may limit our ability to customize certain derivative transactions for our needs. In addition, we will likely experience additional collateral requirements and costs associated with derivative transactions. The Dodd-Frank Act also authorizes the SEC to adopt regulations that could impose heightened standards of care on sellers of our variable or other registered products, which could adversely affect our sales of and reduce our margins on these products.

In the case of our U.S. mortgage insurance business, the Dodd-Frank Act requires securitizers to retain some of the risk associated with mortgage loans they sell or securitize, unless the mortgage loans are “qualified residential mortgages” or unless the securitization or security is partially or fully exempted by regulations to be promulgated. Depending on whether and to what extent loans with mortgage insurance are considered “qualified residential mortgages” for purposes of the Dodd-Frank Act’s securitization provisions or “qualified mortgages” for purposes of the ability to repay provisions, this legislation could have a material adverse affect on the amount of new mortgage insurance that we write. The Dodd-Frank Act may in any case reduce the volume of new mortgage loans issued, which could reduce the amount of new mortgage insurance we write. In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act creates a Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, which may issue rules or regulations that indirectly affect our mortgage insurance business or result in additional compliance burdens and costs.

Federal agencies have been given significant discretion in drafting the rules and regulations that will implement the Dodd-Frank Act. Consequently, many of the details and much of the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act may not be known for some time. In addition, this legislation mandated multiple studies and reports for Congress, which could result in additional legislative or regulatory action.

We cannot predict the requirements of the regulations ultimately adopted under the Dodd-Frank Act, the affect such regulations will have on financial markets generally, or on our businesses specifically, the additional costs associated with compliance with such regulations, or any changes to our operations that may be necessary to comply with the Dodd-Frank Act, any of which could have a material adverse affect on our business, results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

Changes in accounting standards issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board or other standard-setting bodies could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our financial statements are subject to the application of U.S. GAAP, which is periodically revised and/or expanded. Accordingly, from time to time, we are required to adopt new or revised accounting standards issued by recognized authoritative bodies, including the Financial Accounting Standards Board. It is possible that future accounting standards we are required to adopt could change the current accounting treatment that we apply to our financial statements and that such changes could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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We have significant deferred tax assets, and any impairments of or valuation allowances against these deferred tax assets in the future could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

The realizability of deferred tax assets may be limited for various reasons, including if projected future taxable income becomes insufficient to recognize the full benefit of our net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards prior to their expiration. Additionally, our ability to fully use these tax assets will also be adversely affected if we have an “ownership change” within the meaning of Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. An ownership change is generally defined as a greater than 50% increase in equity ownership by “5% shareholders” (as that term is defined for purposes of Section 382) in any three-year period. Future changes in our stock ownership, depending on the magnitude, including the purchase or sale of our common stock by 5% shareholders, and issuances or redemptions of common stock by us, could result in an ownership change that would trigger the imposition of limitations under Section 382. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that in the future we will not experience limitations with respect to recognizing the benefits of our NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes for which limitations could have a material adverse affect on our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

Risks Relating to Our Retirement and Protection Segment

We may face losses if morbidity rates or mortality rates differ significantly from our pricing expectations.

We set prices for our insurance and some annuity products based upon expected claims and payment patterns, using assumptions for, among other things, morbidity rates, or likelihood of sickness, and mortality rates, or likelihood of death, of our policyholders and contractholders. The long-term profitability of these products depends upon how our actual experience compares with our pricing assumptions. For example, if morbidity rates are higher, or mortality rates are lower, than our pricing assumptions, we could be required to make greater payments under long-term care insurance policies and annuity contracts than we had projected. Conversely, if mortality rates are higher than our pricing assumptions, we could be required to make greater payments under our life insurance policies and annuity contracts with GMDBs than we had projected.

The risk that our claims experience may differ significantly from our pricing assumptions is particularly significant for our long-term care insurance products. Long-term care insurance policies provide for long-duration coverage and, therefore, our actual claims experience will emerge over many years after pricing assumptions have been established. For example, changes in socio-demographics and behavioral trends may have an adverse impact on our future loss trends. Moreover, long-term care insurance does not have the extensive claims experience history of life insurance, and as a result, our ability to forecast future claim rates for long-term care insurance is more limited than for life insurance.

We may be required to accelerate the amortization of deferred acquisition costs and the present value of future profits, which would increase our expenses and reduce profitability.

DAC represents costs that relate to the sale and issuance of our insurance policies and investment contracts that are deferred and amortized over the estimated life of the related insurance policies and investment contracts. These costs include certain commissions, solicitation and printing costs, sales material and some support costs, such as underwriting and contract and policy issuance expenses. Under U.S. GAAP, DAC is subsequently amortized to income, over the lives of the underlying contracts, in relation to the anticipated recognition of premiums or gross profits. In addition, when we acquire a block of insurance policies or investment contracts, we assign a portion of the purchase price to the right to receive future net cash flows from the acquired block of insurance and investment contracts and policies. This intangible asset, called the present value of future profits (“PVFP”), represents the actuarially estimated present value of future cash flows from the acquired policies. We amortize the value of this intangible asset in a manner similar to the amortization of DAC.

Our amortization of DAC and PVFP generally depends upon anticipated profits from investments, surrender and other policy and contract charges, mortality, morbidity and maintenance expense margins. Unfavorable

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experience with regard to expected expenses, investment returns, mortality, morbidity, withdrawals or lapses may cause us to increase the amortization of DAC or PVFP, or both, or to record a charge to increase benefit reserves.

We regularly review DAC and PVFP to determine if they are recoverable from future income. If these costs are not recoverable, they are charged to expenses in the financial period in which we make this determination. For example, if we determine that we are unable to recover DAC from profits over the life of a block of insurance policies or annuity contracts, or if withdrawals or surrender charges associated with early withdrawals do not fully offset the unamortized acquisition costs related to those policies or annuities, we would be required to recognize the additional DAC amortization as an expense in the current period. Equity market volatility could result in losses in our variable annuity products and associated hedging program which could challenge our ability to recover DAC on these products and could lead to further write-offs of DAC.

Our reputation in the long-term care insurance market may be adversely affected by the rate actions currently being implemented on our in-force long-term care insurance products and by any rate actions we may take in the future.

Although the terms of all our long-term care insurance policies permit us to increase premiums during the premium-paying period, rate actions, by us or our competitors, could limit our ability to continue to market and sell new long-term care insurance products and our ability to retain existing policyholders, agents and independent channel market share. In addition, we cannot predict how our policyholders, agents and competitors may react to any rate actions we may take in the future.

Medical advances, such as genetic research and diagnostic imaging, and related legislation could adversely affect the financial performance of our life insurance, long-term care insurance and annuity businesses.

Genetic research includes procedures focused on identifying key genes that render an individual predisposed to specific diseases, such as particular types of cancer and other diseases. Other medical advances, such as diagnostic imaging technologies, also may be used to detect the early onset of diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. We believe that if individuals learn through medical advances that they are predisposed to particular conditions that may reduce life longevity or require long-term care, they will be more likely to purchase our life and long-term care insurance policies or not to permit existing policies to lapse. In contrast, if individuals learn that they lack the genetic predisposition to develop the conditions that reduce longevity or require long-term care, they will be less likely to purchase our life and long-term care insurance products but more likely to purchase certain annuity products. In addition, such individuals that are existing policyholders will be more likely to permit their policies to lapse.

If we were to gain access to the same genetic or medical information as our prospective policyholders and contractholders, then we would be able to take this information into account in pricing our life and long-term care insurance policies and annuity contracts. However, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory actions and proposals that make, or could make, genetic and other medical information confidential and unavailable to insurance companies. Pursuant to these legislative and regulatory actions and proposals, prospective policyholders and contractholders would only disclose this information if they chose to do so voluntarily. These factors could lead us to reduce sales of products affected by these legislative and regulatory actions and proposals and could result in a deterioration of the risk profile of our portfolio, which could lead to payments to our policyholders and contractholders that are higher than we anticipated.

Medical advances could also lead to new forms of preventive care. Preventive care could extend the life and improve the overall health of individuals. If this were to occur, the duration of payments under certain of our annuity products likely would increase, thereby reducing profitability in that business.

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We may face losses if there are significant deviations from our assumptions regarding the future persistency of our insurance policies and annuity contracts.

The prices and expected future profitability of our insurance and deferred annuity products are based in part upon expected patterns of premiums, expenses and benefits, using a number of assumptions, including those related to persistency, which is the probability that a policy or contract will remain in-force from one period to the next. The effect of persistency on profitability varies for different products. For most of our life insurance and deferred annuity products, actual persistency that is lower than our persistency assumptions could have an adverse impact on profitability, primarily because we would be required to accelerate the amortization of expenses we deferred in connection with the acquisition of the policy or contract. For our universal life insurance policies, increased persistency that is the result of the sale of policies by the insured to third parties that continue to make premium payments on policies that would otherwise have lapsed, also known as life settlements, could have an adverse impact on profitability because of the higher claims rate associated with settled policies.

For our long-term care insurance and some other health insurance policies, actual persistency in later policy durations that is higher than our persistency assumptions could have a negative impact on profitability. If these policies remain in-force longer than we assumed, then we could be required to make greater benefit payments than we had anticipated when we priced these products. This risk is particularly significant in our long-term care insurance business because we do not have the experience history that we have in many of our other businesses. As a result, our ability to predict persistency for long-term care insurance is more limited than for many other products. Some of our long-term care insurance policies have experienced higher persistency than we had assumed, which has resulted in adverse claims experience.

Because our assumptions regarding persistency experience are inherently uncertain, reserves for future policy benefits and claims may prove to be inadequate if actual persistency experience is different from those assumptions. Although some of our products permit us to increase premiums during the life of the policy or contract, we cannot guarantee that these increases would be sufficient to maintain profitability or that such increases would be approved by regulators. Moreover, many of our products do not permit us to increase premiums or limit those increases during the life of the policy or contract. Significant deviations in experience from pricing expectations regarding persistency could have an adverse effect on the profitability of our products.

We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to continue to implement actions to mitigate the impact of Regulations XXX or AXXX and as a result we may incur higher operating costs that could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We have increased term and universal life insurance statutory reserves in response to the Model Regulation entitled “Valuation of Life Insurance Policies,” commonly known as “Regulation XXX,” and the Valuation of Life Insurance Policies Regulation, as clarified by Actuarial Guideline 38 (more commonly known as “Regulation AXXX”) and have taken steps to mitigate the impact the regulations have had on our business, including increasing premium rates and implementing capital solutions. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to continue to implement actions to mitigate further impacts of Regulations XXX or AXXX on our term and universal life insurance products. Recent market conditions have limited the capacity or increased prices for these reserve funding options. If capacity continues to be limited for a prolonged period of time, our ability to obtain new funding for these structures may be hindered. Additionally, we cannot provide assurance that there will not be regulatory, tax or other challenges to the actions we have taken to date. The result of those potential challenges could require us to increase statutory reserves or incur higher operating and/or tax costs.

If demand for long-term care insurance either declines or remains flat, we may not be able to execute our strategy to expand our long-term care insurance business.

We have devoted significant resources to developing our long-term care insurance business and our growth strategy relies partly upon continued growth of the sale of this product. In recent years, industry sales of individual long-term care insurance have varied. In some years, sales have declined while in other years sales

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have grown moderately. Annualized first-year premiums for individual long-term care insurance achieved a historical high in 2002 at approximately $1.0 billion and decreased by 41% to approximately $608 million in 2006, according to LIMRA International, Inc. We believe that the decrease during this period was due primarily to decisions by several providers to cease offering long-term care insurance, to raise premiums on in-force policies and/or to introduce new products with higher prices. These actions resulted in decreased purchases of long-term care insurance products and have caused some distributors to reduce their sales focus on these products. In the fourth quarter of 2010, one of our competitors announced its intent to exit the long-term care insurance market effective January 1, 2011. In addition, several competitors have announced their intent to seek rate actions on their individual and certain group long-term care insurance products. These announcements by competitors, coupled with our announcement, in October 2010, that we plan to file for a premium rate increase of 18% on two blocks of older long-term care insurance policies, could result in market disruption or decreases in sales of long-term care insurance policies. In addition, certain aspects of healthcare reform, such as the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (“CLASS”) Act, could impact demand for our long-term care insurance business. If the market for long-term care insurance continues to remain flat or declines, we may be unable to realize our growth strategy in this area and our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Risks Relating to Our International Segment

We have significant operations internationally that could be adversely affected by changes in political or economic stability or government policies where we operate.

We have a presence in more than 25 countries around the world. Global economic and regulatory developments could affect our business in many ways. For example, our operations are subject to local laws and regulations, which in many ways are similar to the state laws and regulations outlined above. Many of our international customers and independent sales intermediaries also operate in regulated environments. Changes in the regulations that affect their operations also may affect our business relationships with them and their ability to purchase or to distribute our products. These changes could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, compliance with applicable laws and regulations is time consuming and personnel-intensive, and changes in these laws and regulations may increase materially our direct and indirect compliance and other expenses of doing business, thus having an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Local regional and global economic conditions, including changes in housing markets, employment levels, government benefit levels, credit markets, trade levels, inflation, recession and currency fluctuations, as discussed above, also could affect our international businesses. Political changes, some of which may be disruptive, can interfere with our customers and all of our activities in a particular location. Attempts to mitigate these risks can be costly and are not always successful.

Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and international securities markets could negatively affect our profitability.

Our international operations generate revenues denominated in local currencies and because we derive a significant portion of our income from non-U.S.-denominated revenue, our results of operations could be adversely affected to the extent the dollar value of non-U.S.-denominated revenue is reduced due to a strengthening of the U.S. dollar. We generally invest cash generated by our international operations in securities denominated in local currencies. As of December 31, 2010 and 2009, approximately 22% and 15%, respectively, of our invested assets were held by our international operations and were invested primarily in non-U.S.-denominated securities. Although investing in securities denominated in local currencies limits the effect of currency exchange rate fluctuation on local operating results, we remain exposed to the impact of fluctuations in exchange rates as we translate the operating results of our foreign operations into our consolidated financial statements. We currently do not hedge this exposure, and as a result, period-to-period comparability of our results of operations is affected by fluctuations in exchange rates. Our investments in non-U.S.-denominated securities are subject to fluctuations in non-U.S. securities and currency markets, and those markets can be volatile. Non-U.S. currency fluctuations also affect the value of any dividends paid by our non-U.S. subsidiaries to their parent companies in the United States.

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We may face higher than anticipated losses if unemployment rates differ significantly from our pricing expectations.

We set prices for our lifestyle protection insurance products based upon expected claims and payment patterns. For our employment-related products, these expectations reflect our assumptions regarding unemployment levels. The long-term profitability of many of these products depends upon how our actual experience compares with our pricing assumptions with the exception being many of our monthly premium accounts, where we have the ability to re-price our in-force policies in the event of higher than anticipated unemployment-related losses. If unemployment levels are higher than our pricing assumptions, the claims frequency could be higher for our lifestyle protection insurance business than we had projected. Additionally, rising unemployment rates can impact a borrower’s ability to pay their mortgage, thereby increasing the likelihood that we could incur additional losses in our international mortgage insurance business.

Our claims expenses would increase and our results of operations would suffer if the rate of defaults on mortgages covered by our mortgage insurance increases or the severity of such defaults exceeds our expectations.

As in the United States, deterioration in economic conditions internationally may increase the likelihood that borrowers in a given country will not have sufficient income to pay their mortgages, and can also adversely affect home values, which increases our risk of loss. A decline in home prices, whether or not in conjunction with deteriorating economic conditions, would also increase our risk of loss. A substantial economic downturn or decline in home prices could have a significant adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. We also may be particularly affected by economic downturns or reversals of recent significant home price appreciation in areas where a large portion of our business is concentrated.

A significant portion of our international mortgage insurance risk in-force consists of loans with high loan-to-value ratios, which generally result in more and larger claims than loans with lower loan-to-value ratios.

Mortgage loans with higher loan-to-value ratios typically have claim incidence rates substantially higher than mortgage loans with lower loan-to-value ratios. In Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, the risks of having a portfolio with a significant portion of high loan-to-value mortgages are greater than in the United States and Europe because we generally agree to cover 100% of the losses associated with mortgage defaults in those markets, compared to percentages in the United States and Europe that are typically 12% to 35% of the loan amount.

Although mortgage insurance premiums for higher loan-to-value ratio loans generally are higher than for loans with lower loan-to-value ratios, the difference in premium rates may not be sufficient to compensate us for the enhanced risks associated with mortgage loans bearing higher loan-to-value ratios.

Our international mortgage insurance business is subject to substantial competition from government-owned and government-sponsored enterprises, and this may put us at a competitive disadvantage on pricing and other terms and conditions.

Like our U.S. mortgage insurance business, our international mortgage insurance business competes with government-owned and government-sponsored enterprises. In Canada, we compete with CMHC, a Crown corporation owned by the Canadian government. In Europe, these enterprises include public mortgage guarantee facilities in a number of countries. Like government-owned and government-sponsored enterprises in the United States, these competitors may establish pricing terms and business practices that may be influenced by motives such as advancing social housing policy or stabilizing the mortgage lending industry, which may not be consistent with maximizing return on capital or other profitability measures. In the event that a government-owned or sponsored entity in one of our markets determines to reduce prices significantly or alter the terms and

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conditions of its mortgage insurance or other credit enhancement products in furtherance of social or other goals rather than a profit motive, we may be unable to compete in that market effectively, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. See “—We compete with government-owned and government-sponsored enterprises in our U.S. mortgage insurance business, and this may put us at a competitive disadvantage on pricing and other terms and conditions.”

In Canada, CMHC is a sovereign entity that provides mortgage lenders a lower capital charge and a 100% government guarantee as compared to loans covered by our policy which benefit from a 90% government guarantee. CMHC also operates the Canadian Mortgage Bond Program, which provides lenders the ability to efficiently guaranty and securitize their mortgage loan portfolios. If we are unable to effectively distinguish ourselves competitively with our Canadian mortgage lender customers, under current market conditions or in the future, we may be unable to compete effectively with CMHC as a result of the more favorable capital relief it can provide or the other products and incentives that it offers to lenders.

Recent conditions in the international financial markets could lead other countries to nationalize our competitors or establish competing governmental agencies, which would further limit our competitive position in international markets and, therefore, materially affect our results of operations.

Changes in regulations could affect our international operations significantly and could reduce the demand for mortgage insurance.

In addition to the general regulatory risks that are described above under “—Our insurance businesses are heavily regulated and changes in regulation may reduce our profitability and limit our growth,” we are also affected by various additional regulations relating particularly to our international mortgage insurance operations.

In the second quarter of 2008, the aggregate cap for guaranteed polices of all Canadian licensed mortgage insurers was increased to CAD$250.0 billion, which facilitates our ongoing ability to offer mortgage insurance products under the Government Guarantee Agreement. The failure of the Canadian government to maintain the Government Guarantee Agreement on terms similar to the current Government Guarantee Agreement could have an adverse effect on our ability to offer mortgage insurance products in Canada and could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. In July 2008, the Government of Canada announced adjustments to the rules for government guaranteed mortgages. We have incorporated these adjustments into our underwriting guidelines effective October 15, 2008. These new standards have resulted in a modest reduction of mortgage originations in Canada. Legislation became effective in Canada in 2010 that among other things, amends the statutes applicable to federally regulated lenders to prohibit such lenders from charging borrowers amounts for mortgage insurance that exceed the lender’s actual costs and impose new disclosure obligations in respect of mortgage insurance. In 2010, the Canadian government made additional changes, and in January 2011, it announced further adjustments to the rules for government guaranteed mortgages, which are more fully described above under “International Mortgage Insurance – Canada – Government Guarantee.”

As also described under “International Mortgage Insurance – Canada – Government Guarantee,” an amendment to the Government Guarantee Agreement has been completed. The Canadian Department of Finance has informed us that they intend to continue to review the Government Guarantee Agreement and we remain engaged in ongoing discussions with Department of Finance officials on this matter. Although we believe the Canadian government will preserve the Government Guarantee Agreement in order to maintain competition in the Canadian mortgage industry, we cannot be sure that will be the case or what, if any, changes will be made to the terms of the Government Guarantee Agreement.

APRA regulates all financial institutions in Australia, including general, life and mortgage insurance companies. APRA also determines the minimum regulatory capital requirements for depository institutions. APRA’s current regulations provide for reduced capital requirements for certain depository institutions that insure residential mortgages with an “acceptable” mortgage insurer for all non-standard mortgages and for standard mortgages with loan-to-value ratios above 80%. APRA’s regulations currently set out a number of circumstances in which a loan may be considered to be non-standard from a depository institution’s perspective.

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Under rules adopted by APRA effective January 1, 2008, in connection with the revisions to a set of regulatory rules and procedures governing global bank capital standards that were introduced by the Basel Committee of the Bank for International Settlements, certain ADIs in Australia are now required to hold less capital on high loan-to-value mortgage loans and will receive a capital incentive for using mortgage insurance, but at a reduced level, and potentially limited to the higher risk portions of their loan portfolios, when compared to previous regulations in Australia. The rules also provide that ADIs would need to acquire mortgage insurance coverage levels lower than existing requirements in order to obtain these reduced capital incentives. Accordingly, lenders in Australia may be able to reduce their use of mortgage insurance for high loan-to-value ratio mortgages, or limit their use to the higher risk portions of their portfolios, which may have an adverse affect on our Australian mortgage insurance business.

In December 2010, the revisions to a set of regulatory rules and procedures governing global bank capital standards were introduced by the Basel Committee of the Bank for International Settlements to strengthen regulatory capital requirements for banks, known as Basel III. Although we believe these revisions may encourage further use of mortgage insurance as a risk and capital management tool in international markets; its adoption by individual countries internationally and in the United States has only begun and we cannot be sure that this will be the case. Since the Basel III framework continues to evolve, we cannot predict the mortgage insurance benefits, if any, that ultimately will be provided to lenders, or how any such benefits may affect the opportunities for the growth of mortgage insurance. If countries implement Basel III in a manner that does not reward lenders for using mortgage insurance as a credit risk mitigant on high loan-to-value mortgage loans, or if lenders conclude that mortgage insurance does not provide sufficient capital incentives, then we may have to revise our product offerings to meet the new requirements and our results of operations may be adversely affected.

During 2010, APRA issued detailed proposals to revise the capital requirements for all insurers it regulates. APRA is currently revising its original proposals following receipt of feedback from the industry. Publication of the new capital requirement regulations is expected sometime in 2011 with an effective date in 2013. We are currently unable to determine the impact that these new regulations will have on our regulatory capital requirements.

Risks Relating to Our U.S. Mortgage Insurance Segment

Our claims expenses and loss reserves have increased in recent periods and could continue to increase if the rate of defaults on mortgages covered by our mortgage insurance continues to increase, and in some cases we expect that paid claims and loss reserves will increase.

Since 2007, we have experienced increases in paid claims and increases in loss reserves as a result of a significant increase in delinquencies and foreclosures in our more recent books of business, particularly those of 2005, 2006, 2007 and the first half of 2008. This impact was evident in all products across all regions of the country and was particularly evident in our A minus, Alt-A, ARMs and certain 100% loan-to-value products in Florida, California, Arizona and Nevada. In addition, throughout the United States, we have experienced an increase in the average loan balance of mortgage loans, including on delinquent loans, as well as a significant decline in home price appreciation, which has turned negative in the majority of U.S. markets. Certain regions around the country, particularly Florida, California, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan, continue to experience an economic slowdown.

The foregoing factors have contributed to, and are expected to continue to contribute to, an increase in our incurred losses and loss reserves. While approximately 93% of our primary risk in-force in the United States is considered prime, based on FICO credit scores of the underlying mortgage loans, continued low or negative home price appreciation, coupled with worsening economic conditions, is likely to cause further increases in our incurred losses and related loss ratios. As of December 31, 2010 and 2009, approximately 36% and 58%, respectively, of our U.S. mortgage insurance risk in-force had not yet reached its anticipated highest claim frequency years, which are generally between the third and seventh year of the loan. As a result, we expect our

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loss experience will increase as policies continue to age. If the claim frequency on the risk in-force significantly exceeds the claim frequency that was assumed in setting premium rates, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows would be adversely affected.

During 2010, we experienced higher levels of paid claims and a decline in the level of loan modifications for borrowers of mortgage loans underlying our delinquency population. If the loan modification trend worsens in 2011 beyond our expectations, we would expect further aging of our delinquent loan inventory, which would pressure our loss reserves. Additionally, if elevated levels of unemployment or underemployment continue or increase in 2011, we would expect further increases in delinquencies and foreclosures to cause upward pressure on our paid claims and loss reserves. With respect to home prices, while housing inventory has demonstrated some improvement in recent months, the inventory of available homes has increased. The inventory of homes on the market is expected to rise substantially as vacant properties make their way through the foreclosure process. As these homes eventually make their way through an already strained and unpredictable foreclosure cycle and increase an already high level of inventory of homes available for sale, we expect home prices to be pressured downward depending upon the level and timing of this process. These conditions could result in an adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our premium rates vary with the perceived risk of a claim on the insured loan, which takes into account factors such as the loan-to-value ratio, our long-term historical loss experience, whether the mortgage provides for fixed payments or variable payments, the term of the mortgage, the borrower’s credit history and the level of documentation and verification of the borrower’s income and assets. Our ability to properly determine eligibility and accurate pricing for the mortgage insurance we issue is dependent upon our underwriting and other operational routines. These underwriting routines may vary across the jurisdictions in which we do business. Deficiencies in actual practice in this area could have an adverse impact on our results. We establish renewal premium rates for the life of a mortgage insurance policy upon issuance, and we cannot cancel the policy or adjust the premiums after the policy is issued. As a result, we cannot offset the impact of unanticipated claims with premium increases on policies in-force, and we cannot refuse to renew mortgage insurance coverage. The premiums we agree to charge upon writing a mortgage insurance policy may not adequately compensate us for the risks and costs associated with the coverage we provide for the entire life of that policy.

Certain types of mortgages have higher probabilities of claims. These include Alt-A loans, loans with an initial Interest Only payment option and other non-traditional loans that we have insured in prior years, including A minus loans and 100% loan-to-value products. Alt-A loans are originated under programs in which there are a reduced level of verification or disclosure of the borrower’s income or assets and a higher historical and expected default rate than standard documentation loans. Standard documentation loans include loans with reduced or different documentation requirements that meet specifications of GSE approved underwriting systems with historical and expected delinquency rates consistent with our standard portfolio. The Interest Only payment option allows the borrower flexibility to pay interest only or pay interest and as much principal as desired, during an initial period of time. A minus loans generally are loans where the borrowers have FICO credit scores between 575 and 660, and where the borrower has a blemished credit history. A material portion of our Alt-A and Interest Only loans was written in 2005 through 2007. At the end of 2007, we began to adopt changes to our underwriting guidelines to substantially eliminate new insurance on these loans. However, the new guidelines only affect business written after those guidelines became effective. Business written before the effectiveness of those guidelines was insured in accordance with the guidelines in effect at time of the commitment, even though that business would not meet the new guidelines. Although historical information is limited, we believe that Alt-A and Interest Only loans written prior to the adoption of the new guidelines may pose a higher risk of claims that would have an adverse impact on our operating results due to features such as deferred amortization of the loan principal on an Interest Only product and Interest Only loans that contain an adjustable interest rate feature and may reset to a rate above the existing rate. If defaults on Alt-A or Interest Only or other non-traditional loans are higher than the assumptions we made in pricing our mortgage insurance on those loans, then we would be required to make greater claims payments than we had projected, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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Our U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries are subject to minimum statutory capital requirements and hazardous financial condition standards which, if not met or waived to the extent needed, could result in restrictions or prohibitions on our doing business and may have an adverse impact on our results of operations.

The recent increase in paid claims and increases in loss reserves have led to a reduction in the statutory capital base of our U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries. Sixteen states have insurance laws or regulations which require a mortgage insurer to maintain a minimum amount of statutory capital relative to the level of risk in-force. While formulations of minimum capital may vary in certain states, the most common measure applied allows for a maximum permitted risk-to-capital ratio of 25:1. The failure to maintain the prescribed minimum capital level in a particular state would generally require a mortgage insurer to immediately stop writing new business until it re-establishes the required level of capital or receives a waiver of the requirement from a state’s insurance regulatory authorities. As of December 31, 2010, none of our U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries had a risk-to-capital ratio in excess of 25:1. As of January 31, 2011, GEMICO slightly exceeded the 25:1 risk-to-capital requirement. However, GEMICO was granted a revocable two-year risk-to-capital waiver, effective January 31, 2011, by the NCDOI. The waiver, which the NCDOI can modify or terminate at its discretion, gives GEMICO the ability to continue to write new business in North Carolina, during the period covered by the waiver, notwithstanding that GEMICO’s risk-to-capital ratio exceeds 25:1. Given that the NCDOI is GEMICO’s domiciliary insurance regulator, the effect of the waiver similarly extends to the 34 states that do not have their own risk-to-capital requirements, thereby enabling GEMICO to continue to write business in those states so long as it is permitted to do so in North Carolina under the NCDOI’s waiver or because its risk-to-capital ratio decreases below 25:1. Further, so as to be able to write new business out of GEMICO in the remaining states which do have separate minimum risk-to-capital requirements, we are also pursuing similar waivers of the risk-to-capital requirement with other state regulators where the authority to grant a waiver exists. In addition to the NCDOI’s waiver, to date, four states have granted us the authority to continue to write business in their state either by a waiver or an administrative no action letter. Consequently, while we seek additional state waivers, GEMICO remains authorized to write new business in 39 states. There can be no certainty as to whether and the extent to which such waivers will be granted, or whether any of them will be subject to discretionary modification or early termination by the regulator, or whether the covered insurer will again meet capital requirements by the end of the waiver period or that an extension of any such waiver would be approved or whether any waiver granted will be terminated or otherwise limited after being granted. In addition, in certain jurisdictions, the insurance regulator may determine it lacks the authority to grant such a waiver. In anticipation of the possibility that GEMICO would breach its risk-to-capital requirements and a required waiver might not yet be granted, ultimately approved or maintained in force, we took all requisite steps to enable another of our U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries, GRMIC-NC, to write new business in lieu of GEMICO and have begun to do so in any state where GEMICO is restricted due to its breach of its 25:1 risk-to-capital requirements and where no waiver has been granted. In December 2010, we notified in writing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of our intent to write business from GRMIC-NC for this purpose. Fannie Mae has verbally acknowledged receipt of this notification and has not objected. Freddie Mac recently modified its letter consenting to this arrangement by extending its expiration date to April 30, 2011 and reiterating and supplementing specified conditions, including that we refrain from utilizing GRMIC-NC except where GEMICO is prohibited from writing business due to a breach of the minimum risk-to-capital requirements and has not obtained a waiver. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae retain the right to revoke or limit, or may not extend, GRMIC-NC’s status as an eligible insurer in which event GRMIC-NC would not be able to write business in lieu of GEMICO as planned. GRMIC-NC’s ability to replace GEMICO as our principal writer of U.S. mortgage insurance is also dependent upon GRMIC-NC continuing to satisfy its own risk-to-capital and hazardous financial condition regulatory requirements, and we cannot provide assurances that under all circumstances GRMIC-NC will be able to continue to satisfy these requirements.

It is also likely that during 2011 another of our U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries, Genworth Mortgage Insurance of North Carolina (“GMIC-NC”), will breach its minimum risk-to-capital requirement. GMIC-NC provides reinsurance to certain U.S. mortgage insurance affiliates such as GEMICO in order for the reinsured affiliate to maintain compliance with certain state law requirements. We have initiated a similar filing process for