(Bloomberg) — Essent Group Ltd., the mortgage insurer backed by George Soros and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., is beating older rivals in the stock market as the U.S. plans to tighten regulation of the industry.
Essent has rallied 9.1% since July 10, when the Federal Housing Finance Agency laid out a proposal requiring mortgage guarantors to hold more assets. Radian Group Inc. and MGIC Investment Corp., the largest firms that focus on backing home loans, have slumped.
FHFA called for stiffer requirements tied to insured loans made from 2005 to 2008, before Essent and NMI Holdings Inc. began writing coverage. The proposal also mandates that insurers hold more funds on contracts connected to riskier borrowers. The U.S., which took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a $187.5 billion rescue after the housing market collapsed, aims to protect taxpayers from losses in a future crisis.
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