Genworth Financial Launches First Ever Index Measuring Consumer Financial Vulnerability

Leading financial security company, Genworth Financial has launched the first ever index measuring consumer financial vulnerability. The Genworth Index is being introduced at a time when consumers face an uncertain future: with UK house prices suffering their first annual fall for 12 years and inflationary pressure from rising food prices and utility bills squeezing household income.

Genworth developed the index in partnership with the European Credit Research Institute (ECRI) and the Personal Finance Research Centre (PFRC) at the University of Bristol. The Index presents the share of survey respondents in a given country who feel financially vulnerable relative to the share who feel financially secure. It was calculated using comparative data from ten European countries.

'The development of this index is an important step for Genworth as we work in partnership with thought leaders to develop common solutions to some of the most important issues consumers face today.

'With the financial environment changing at such a rapid pace, this first reading of the Index provides an important baseline from which to track any shift in consumer financial vulnerability or security,' said David Lane, regional manager for Western Europe at Genworth.

'The Index scores are calculated from consumers' past experiences and future expectations. With these being influenced by factors such as employment prospects and general economic conditions in a country, the second reading of the Index, which is due in early Autumn 2008, will be especially interesting.'

In this first reading of the Index, Great Britain ranks 7th out of 10 in terms of financial vulnerability.

The data collected to help construct the Index and accompanying reports reveal that in Great Britain:

- 6% of households are financially vulnerable and feel that their situation is unlikely to improve

- 14% feel financially secure and expect their situation to improve

- 48% of households have experienced financial difficulty to some degree

- 9% of households are regularly unable to pay bills on the final reminder

- 7% of households are constantly struggling or falling behind

Genworth plans to add further countries to the Index as part of its commitment to share local insights into the markets in which it operates. Full copies of the accompanying reports are available from http://www.genworth.co.uk.

About Genworth Financial

Genworth is a leading insurance holding company, serving the lifestyle protection, retirement income, investment and mortgage insurance needs of more than 15 million customers across 25 countries. For more information, visit http://www.genworth.com.

Contact Information:

Media: Guy Genney, +44(0)208-380-3786, guy.genney@genworth.com

Source: Genworth Financial

Media: Guy Genney, +44(0)208-380-3786, guy.genney@genworth.com