Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia has appointed Georgette Nicholas to the permanent CEO role after a global search following the departure of Ellie Comerford.

Director of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations Luke Oxenham will take over from Ms Nicholas as CFO. Both promotions took effect last week.

A US national, Ms Nicholas was CFO for almost two years before becoming acting CEO in October last year. During her time as CFO she was involved in the company’s initial public offering.

Before joining the company in Australia she held various senior management positions with Genworth Financial in the US, and she has more than 30 years’ financial industry experience.