National MI's Claudia Merkle Named to Women of Influence List

EMERYVILLE, CA--(Marketwired - August 03, 2016) - National Mortgage Insurance Corporation (National MI), a subsidiary of NMI Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: NMIH), announces that Claudia Merkle, executive vice president, chief of insurance operations, is named as one of HousingWire's Women of Influence. The Women of Influence awards recognize the outstanding efforts of women in driving the U.S. housing economy forward, and are given to women who are making notable contributions to their businesses and to the industry at-large -- with a specific focus on contributions made in the most recent 12 months.

"I'm extremely honored to be named to HousingWire's Women of Influence list," Merkle said. "I'm proud to have the opportunity to make a difference at National MI, and to serve as a mentor to both female and male employees."

A highly respected leader with more than 25 years of experience in the mortgage industry, Merkle leads National MI's insurance operations and its sales and marketing functions. As chief of insurance operations, she played a key role in almost doubling National MI's lender clients in the past two years alone, to over 1,000 clients today.

"Claudia's contributions to National MI and to the private mortgage insurance industry have been outstanding," said Bradley Shuster, CEO of National MI. "This recognition by HousingWire is well-deserved. Claudia's strong leadership and guidance leading the front lines of sales and operations have been crucial to National MI's success."

One of Merkle's most notable accomplishments was developing an innovative way to perform National MI's underwriting, which enabled the company to provide competitive rescission relief for a majority of its loans, and served as the basis for the National MI SafeGuard® product. National MI's insurance product made 12-month rescission relief feasible and started a trend in the industry.

Merkle has also been instrumental in National MI's expansion: the company tripled its market share in 2015 and reached profitability in the second quarter of 2016.

About National MI

National Mortgage Insurance Corporation (National MI), a subsidiary of NMI Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: NMIH), is a U.S.-based, private mortgage insurance company enabling low down payment borrowers to realize home ownership while protecting lenders and investors against losses related to a borrower's default. To learn more, please visit www.nationalmi.com.

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