Mr. Casale is our founder and President and Chief Executive Officer, and has served a member of our Board of Directors since 2008, including as the Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2013. Mr. Casale has more than 25 years of financial services management experience, including 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 now manages approximately $248 billion of mortgage 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 over two million borrowers to become homeowners. Mr. Casale continues to evolve the franchise using risk-based pricing and artificial intelligence-driven analytics to support his 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. Mr. Casale has served on the boards of several educational organizations in the Philadelphia area, most notably the Board of Trustees of 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, and served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur in Philadelphia from 2019 to 2025. Mr. Casale holds a BS in accounting from St. Joseph s University and an MBA in finance from New York University.