Management

Mark A. Casale is the founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT). Mr. Casale has more than 25 years of financial services experience, which includes senior roles in mortgage banking, mortgage insurance, bond insurance and capital markets.

Founded in 2008 by Mr. Casale with $500 million of equity funding, Essent Group Ltd. has grown to a market capitalization of approximately $6B and manages approximately $240B of insurance in force. Under Mr. Casale’s leadership, Essent has become a leading mortgage insurer and reinsurer serving as a trusted and strong counterparty to lenders and GSEs and has enabled more than three million borrowers to become successful homeowners. Mr. Casale continues to evolve the franchise using risk-based pricing and AI-driven analytics to support Essent’s core mission of prudently growing shareholder value and promoting affordable and sustainable homeownership.

Mr. Casale actively champions Essent’s philanthropic mission to support local and national organizations centered around children, housing, health and education. Additionally, Mr. Casale has served on the boards of several educational organizations in the Philadelphia area, most notably the Board of Trustees at St. Joseph’s University from 2014 to 2023 and La Salle College High School as Trustee from 2017 to 2023 and elected to Emeritus Trustee in 2024. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur in Philadelphia.

A native of the Philadelphia region, Mr. Casale holds a BS in accounting from St. Joseph’s University and an MBA in finance from New York University.

Christopher G. Curran was named President of Essent Guaranty in December 2021, having previously served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development since 2011. Mr. Curran has more than 30 years of mortgage insurance, mortgage banking and financial services experience.

As President, Mr. Curran is responsible for leading Essent’s mortgage insurance (MI) business, including risk management, business development, information technology, operations, marketing and public policy.

Mr. Curran currently serves as a member of the MBA’s Residential Board of Governors and is actively involved with Essent’s philanthropic mission, which is focused on children and education, through his support of the Independence Mission Schools of Philadelphia. 

Mr. Curran began his career as a CPA with Arthur Andersen LLP, specializing in financial services and holds a BS in accounting from La Salle University in Philadelphia.

William P. Higgins was named President of Essent Title Insurance in January 2025, having previously served as Senior Vice President, Essent Ventures since 2014. Mr. Higgins brings more than 30 years of wide-ranging experience in the banking, mortgage and financial services industries, covering the areas of financial management, capital markets, credit and mortgage operations. From 2006 to 2012, Mr. Higgins was a member of ING Direct USA’s senior management team, serving as chief lending officer. His mortgage-related experience includes various senior positions in finance, operations, credit and capital markets at ContiMortgage Corp.

Mr. Higgins began his career as a CPA with KPMG LLP, specializing in financial services and mortgage banking.

Mr. Higgins holds a BBA in accounting from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Vijay Bhasin has served as Chief Risk Officer and Senior Vice President since 2009. Mr. Bhasin has significant mortgage finance industry expertise, including holding multiple senior management positions specializing in mortgage risk, modeling and analytics. From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Bhasin served as a managing director for Countrywide Financial Corporation/Bank of America, a mortgage lender, with responsibility for capital assessment, asset liability management, counterparty credit risk measurement and structured credit analytics. Earlier in his career, Mr. Bhasin held several management positions with Freddie Mac, including vice president for credit and prepayment modeling, as well as research positions with Fannie Mae and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Mr. Bhasin holds a BS in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, India, an MBA in finance and marketing from Southern Illinois University and a PhD in finance from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Wei Ding has served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development since January 2022, having previously served as Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy since 2019 and Vice President of Risk Management since 2009. 

Mr. Ding has more than 20 years of industry experience, specializing in mortgage insurance and reinsurance, corporate finance, capital markets and risk management.

Before joining Essent, Mr. Ding served as a senior vice president of capital markets and growth venture at Genworth Financial.  Prior to that, he was vice president of capital markets at Radian Guaranty where he had responsibility for pricing and structuring of mortgage insurance, financial guaranty and credit derivative products.

Mr. Ding holds a BA in finance from Renmin University of China, a MS in economics and a MS in statistics from The Iowa State University.  He is also a CFA charter holder.

Mary Lourdes Gibbons has served as Chief Legal Officer, Senior Vice President and  Assistant Secretary since 2008. Ms. Gibbons has more than 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry. From 2003 to 2008, Ms. Gibbons served as chief legal officer of Wilmington Finance, Inc., a mortgage lender. Ms. Gibbons began her career at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the law firm of White and Williams LLP. Ms. Gibbons’ mortgage-related experience includes senior roles at ContiMortgage Corp. and Advanta Mortgage Corp.

Ms. Gibbons holds a BS in marketing from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia and a JD from The Delaware Law School.

David Weinstock was named Chief Financial Officer in March of 2023 after serving as interim Chief Financial Officer since June 28, 2022, and as Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since 2009. Mr. Weinstock has more than 25 years of experience in the areas of finance, accounting, and controls. Prior to joining Essent, he held senior management positions at Advanta Corp., including chief accounting officer and vice president of investor relations. Prior to Advanta, Mr. Weinstock was a senior manager at Arthur Andersen LLP.

Mr. Weinstock holds a BS in accounting from The Pennsylvania State University and is a certified public accountant.

Paul Wollmann has served as President and Chief Underwriting Officer since May 2021, and has been with Essent Re since 2009. From 2007 to 2009, he was a managing director, structured & asset-backed finance at RAM Holdings Ltd. In addition to his reinsurance background in Bermuda, Mr. Wollmann has extensive experience in the areas of structured finance. Mr. Wollmann was previously employed as a managing director at RCS Limited and Ritchie Capital Management (Bermuda) Limited, both alternative asset management firms, from 2004 to 2007. From 1997 to 2004, Mr. Wollmann was with ACE Capital Re International Ltd. (now known as Assured Guaranty Re) where he last served as a senior vice president.

Mr. Wollmann holds a BA from Rollins College, Florida, and an MBA from The School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science at St. John’s University, New York. Mr. Wollmann also holds Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, Associate in Reinsurance and an Associate in Risk Management insurance designations.