Robert A. Bailenson, CFO of Assured Guaranty, a provider of financial guaranty insurance, will become the company’s chief operating officer on Jan. 1. The company’s chief actuary, Benjamin G. Rosenblum, will succeed Bailenson as CFO.
“Assured Guaranty has a deep, highly experienced, and well-established senior management team and these promotions further reinforce the core of Assured Guaranty’s steady leadership,” Dominic J. Frederico, president and CEO of Assured Guaranty, said. “Rob and Ben have each been with the company for many years and have an extensive understanding of our strategies, markets, business practices and the unique characteristics of the financial guaranty business. We are taking these steps now to elevate them in recognition of their talents and contributions to the company and to leverage their leadership abilities in pursuit of our strategic objectives.”
As COO, Bailenson will be responsible for various strategic initiatives as Assured Guaranty seeks to grow its business and increase its returns through increased earnings from insurance and asset management, higher investment returns and capital efficiencies. Specifically, he will assume responsibility over the company’s financial guaranty underwriting businesses and origination strategies worldwide, as well as other initiatives for revenue generation. He will also be in charge of investor relations and corporate communications, information technology, and the AG Analytics subsidiary. He will continue to work closely with president and CEO Dominic Frederico in setting the strategic direction of the company and in the execution of corporate priorities.
As CFO, Rosenblum will assume responsibility for the operations of critical financial functions. As chief actuary, he has already been leading the accounting, financial reporting, Sarbanes-Oxley controls, portfolio analytics and quantitative analytics departments and will continue to do so as CFO. In addition, he will oversee treasury, tax, and investment management.
Bailenson has been with Assured Guaranty and its predecessor companies since 1990. He has been chief financial officer of Assured Guaranty since June 2011 and held a number of previous leadership positions with Assured Guaranty and its predecessor companies. He has been instrumental in some of the company’s most significant strategic initiatives, including the IPO of Assured Guaranty Ltd. and the acquisition of Financial Security Assurance (now Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp., or AGM), as well as acquisitions of other legacy financial guarantors. As CFO, he began the execution of the company’s capital management program in 2013, which has resulted in the repurchase of more than $4.8 billion of AGO common shares since then, led the execution of various Assured Guaranty debt offerings and refinancings, and he has been a leader in efforts to grow the company’s asset management earnings. He also spearheaded myriad improvements to the company’s accounting, disclosure, and treasury operations. Prior to joining the company, he worked at Ernst & Young.
Rosenblum joined Assured Guaranty in 2004 and has been its chief actuary since 2010. In 2015, he also became senior managing director in charge of insurance accounting and financial reporting. Prior to joining Assured Guaranty, he worked for nearly ten years as an actuary with his primary focus on loss reserving and developing actuarial systems and financial projections in the insurance industry. He has been an invaluable contributor to the company’s risk analysis, loss projection and reserve calculations as it faced numerous business challenges over the years, including the global financial crisis of 2008, the integration of AGM in 2009, and the defaults of Detroit and Puerto Rico, for example. Most recently, he was instrumental in completing the transaction that resulted in the combination of Assured Investment Management with Sound Point Capital Management.
