Genworth CFO Fegan quits after just a year

The former boss of St George Bank, Paul Fegan, has resigned as chief financial officer of mortgage insurer Genworth after serving less than a year in the role.

US-listed Genworth, the largest provider of lenders' mortgage insurance in Australia, said on Thursday that Mr Fegan would be replaced by its head of investor relations, Georgette Nicholas, from February.

The company said Mr Fegan was leaving to spend "more time on his responsibilities with other companies as an independent director".

Between now and February, the director of corporate finance and investor relations in Australia, Luke Oxenham, will act as chief financial officer.

Mr Fegan's resignation comes less than a year after he was appointed to the role in January.

Genworth has been eyeing a float of up to 40 per cent of its Australian business for several years but has repeatedly delayed the decision, citing changes in the economic outlook.

It is understood the US-listed parent company is now considering a float of its Australian arm close to the middle of 2014.

The chief executive of the company's Australian operations, Ellie Comerford, thanked Mr Fegan for his work in preparing the company for the float.

"Over the past year, Paul has overseen the financial management of the Australian business and made valuable contributions to the continued development and execution of our capital optimisation strategy and other business priorities," she said in a statement.

Despite the rush among other companies to float before the end of this year, in September Genworth said it was considering postponing the initial public offering until next year, in contrast to previous comments flagging a late-2013 IPO.

Its global chief executive, Tom McInerney, in September said it would delay the float in order to assess the impact of capital rule changes on the big four banks and their appetite for mortgage lenders' insurance.