Genworth Financial said on Oct. 30 that President and CEO Thomas J. McInerney will retire on Dec. 31, with the board expecting to name current CFO Jerome Upton as his successor on Jan. 1, 2027, and appoint him to the board. Angela Simmons, now CFO of Genworth’s Closed Block, is expected to become executive vice president and CFO at the same time. The company has announced a succession plan, not completed appointments: both future roles remain described as expected in the release. Virginia Business also reported the planned handoff.
Upton has worked at Genworth and predecessor businesses since 1998 and has been CFO since March 2023. The company says his knowledge of Genworth and his role in shaping strategy are among the reasons the board expects to name him CEO. Over the years he has held finance and operating roles across business lines and geographies. If the board proceeds as described, the move will take an internal finance leader into the CEO seat and add him to the board at the start of the new year, while the current CEO steps down.
Simmons has been with Genworth since 2002 and has been CFO of the Closed Block since 2020. Her experience includes capital markets, SEC reporting, controllership and finance. The company says she is expected to take the executive vice president and CFO role on Jan. 1; she has not been formally named to that position yet. The timeline would bring a change at both the top executive and finance levels on the same day, while preserving internal knowledge in each role.
McInerney will step down from the board along with the CEO role. Genworth says he has led the company for 14 years, strengthening its financial position, addressing challenges in its legacy long-term-care business and launching CareScout; those are the outgoing CEO’s own reflections, not an independent assessment. The company did not give a reason for his retirement. The two-month interval between the announcement and year-end departure sets up a planned transition rather than an immediate vacancy.
Readers may compare this with CooperCompanies’ recent CEO transition, where the outgoing chief executive moved into an executive-chair role. Genworth’s handoff is different: the board expects an internal CFO to assume the top job and a second internal leader to take over finance. The distinction matters because neither incoming role is already effective; the next formal step is the board’s appointment, scheduled for Jan. 1, 2027.
