Genworth Arms Financial Advisors with New Communication Tools for Investment Approaches

PLEASANT HILL, Calif., March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genworth Financial Wealth Management (GFWM), an investment management and consulting firm dedicated to helping financial advisors build great businesses and a division of Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW), today announced the release of Crossing the Sea, a book that uses a simple but powerful parable to help advisors explain the "sailing and rowing" investment approach to their clients.

The story describes two couples' journey across the sea to retirement, each using a different approach. The first couple prefers a less active approach, symbolized by "sailing." The second, concerned about periods when the wind might not be blowing in the right direction, prefers a more risk-averse "rowing" approach.  Ultimately, both couples suffer periods of doubt about the wisdom of their respective strategies. Both reach retirement safely -- only to discover that a third approach designed to capture broad returns in bull markets ("sailing"), with more risk-averse approaches designed for bear markets ("rowing") may have resulted in a less stressful journey.

Crossing the Sea was designed to illustrate complicated investment concepts through a simple, easily understood story. It is intended to be a conversation starter about how investors think about risk and volatility as they journey toward their financial goals. GFWM Advisors are able to access the book online at no charge from anywhere, including client meetings.  GFWM also offers glossy, hard-cover copies of the book for advisors to give to clients, with the option to personalize the book's interior flap to include the advisor's biography, headshot, and company information.

"As the markets recover, one of the challenges advisors face is how to communicate with and reassure their clients in what is still an uncertain economy," says Mark Schoenbeck, author of Crossing the Sea and Chief Marketing Officer for GFWM.  "The story provides a simple, effective way for advisors to illustrate the need for different types of investment strategies during a time when clients are nervous about "crossing the sea" to their desired destination." To date, advisors have pre-ordered over 800 copies of the book, in both standard and customized editions.

As part of its ongoing efforts to help advisors through a volatile market and unpredictable economic conditions, GFWM is also expected to launch a website tool this spring to help advisors in a more interactive way that furthers the sailing and rowing metaphor described in Crossing the Sea. The site will feature vignettes about individual investors that illustrate the differences between cyclical and secular bull and bear markets, and contain a survey that will help investors analyze their investment style and generate a risk profile.

GFWM Advisors may order Crossing the Sea by contacting GFWM or emailing [email protected]. The online version is available at http://www.genworthwealth.com/crossingthesea.html. Financial Advisors not currently working with GFWM who are interested in using Crossing the Sea with their clients may contact 800-664-5345.

About Genworth Financial Wealth Management, Inc.

Genworth Financial Wealth Management, Inc., helps independent Financial Advisors build great businesses by providing comprehensive support across every phase of their operation. We offer a sophisticated wealth management platform that enables advisors to craft customized solutions to meet a wide range of client needs; robust client relationship support and back office administration that reduces operational complexity; and pioneering practice management combining leading-edge industry research with real-world expertise and experience. Genworth Financial Wealth Management has helped over 4500 advisors raise over $18 billion in assets. For more information, visit www.genworthwealth.com.

About Genworth Financial

Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) is a leading Fortune 500 global financial security company. Genworth has more than $100 billion in assets and employs approximately 6,000 people with a presence in more than 25 countries. Its products and services help meet the investment, protection, retirement and lifestyle needs of more than 15 million customers. Genworth operates through three segments: Retirement & Protection, US Mortgage Insurance and International. Its products and services are offered through financial intermediaries, advisors, independent distributors and sales specialists. Genworth Financial, which traces its roots back to 1871, became a public company in 2004 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. For more information, visit Genworth.com. From time to time Genworth releases important information via postings on its corporate website. Accordingly, investors and other interested parties are encouraged to enroll to receive automatic email alerts and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds regarding new postings. Enrollment information is found under the "Investors" section of Genworth.com.

SOURCE Genworth Financial, Inc.