Separation Agreement and Release, dated October 5, 2020, between Genworth Financial, Inc. and Kelly Groh

Exhibit 10.53

Notice Date: September 15, 2020

Notice to Employee: This is a legal document. You are advised to

consult with an attorney prior to signing this agreement.

SEPARATION AGREEMENT & RELEASE

This is an Agreement between GENWORTH FINANCIAL, INC. and its affiliates (collectively, the “Company”) and KELLY GROH (the “Employee”).

WHEREAS the Employee’s employment with the Company concluded upon the close of business on September 7, 2020 (the “Separation Date”); and

WHEREAS the payments and other consideration provided to the Employee under this Agreement are inclusive of all compensation, severance pay and other benefits to which the Employee is or may be entitled, and

WHEREAS the Company and the Employee intend the terms and conditions of this Agreement to govern all issues herein related to the Employee’s employment and the cessation of her employment with the Company.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the covenants and mutual promises herein contained, the Company and the Employee agree as follows:

1. Separation Date. Employee’s employment with Company concluded on the Separation Date.

2. Employee Representations. The Employee hereby represents and acknowledges to the Company that (a) the Company has advised the Employee to consult with an attorney of her choosing; (b) the Employee has been offered at least twenty-one (21) days from the Notice Date to consider any waiver of her rights under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended (“ADEA”) prior to signing this Agreement; (c) Employee agrees with the Company that changes to this agreement, if any, whether material or immaterial, will not restart the running of this twenty-one (21)-day consideration period; (d) the Employee has disclosed to the Company any information in her knowledge, possession, custody, or control concerning any conduct involving the Company that the Employee believes involves false claims by the Company to the United States or that Employee believes is unlawful or violates any material Company Policy in any material respect; (e) the consideration provided to the Employee under this Agreement is sufficient to support the releases provided by the Employee under this Agreement and is in addition to anything of value to which she was already entitled; and (f) the Employee has not filed any charges, claims or lawsuits against the Company involving any aspect of the Employee’s employment which have not been terminated as of the Effective Date of this Agreement. The Employee understands that the Company regards the representations made by her as material, and that the Company is relying on these representations in entering into this Agreement.

3. Effective Date of the Agreement. The Employee shall have seven days from the date the Employee signs this Agreement to revoke the Employee’s consent to the waiver of the Employee’s rights under the ADEA and the Agreement in writing addressed and delivered to the Company official identified below which action shall revoke this Agreement. In order to be valid, any written notice of revocation must be faxed, e-mailed, hand-delivered, or postmarked no later than the seventh (7^th) calendar day after the date the Employee signs this Agreement. If the Employee revokes her consent and this Agreement, all of its provisions shall be void and unenforceable. If the Employee does not revoke her consent, the Agreement will take effect on the day after the end of this seven (7)-day revocation period (the “Effective Date”). Notice of revocation should be sent to: 6620 W. Broad Street, Building 1, Attention: Pam Harrison, Richmond, VA 23230. Such notice may faxed to ###-###-#### or may be e-mailed to ***@***.

4. VIC Payment. Following the completion of the performance year 2020, the Company’s CEO and/or Vice President of Human Resources shall recommend to the Company’s Management Development and Compensation Committee, or equivalent in effect at that time (“MDCC”), that the Employee receive the pro rata portion of Employee’s variable incentive compensation payment (the “VIC Payment”) at no less than her target level. The VIC Payment, if any, shall be determined based on Company performance and other factors, and prorated (based on the number of days that Employee was employed during the applicable year) to reflect the portion of the performance year occurring through the Separation Date, in each case as determined in good faith by the MDCC at its discretion. The VIC Payment amount shall be determined and paid, less applicable taxes, at the same time as other executives of the Company and no later than March 15, 2021. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Employee’s eligibility for the VIC Payment is expressly conditioned on the successful completion and closure, prior to March 7, 2021, of the Company’s pending transaction and merger with China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co., Ltd. and in no event shall Employee be eligible for the VIC Payment if such transaction is not closed by such date.

5. SERP Vesting Acceleration. Employee’s retirement benefits under the Genworth Financial, Inc. Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan, as amended (the “SERP”) shall be deemed to be fully vested as of the Effective Date and shall be distributed in such amounts and at such times, and in all other respects in accordance with, the terms and conditions of the SERP.

6. Benefits. Except as expressly set forth below, all of the Employee’s Company-provided benefits for active employees ended or will end either on the Separation Date or on or about the final day of the month in which the Separation Date occurred, in each case according to terms of the applicable plan documents or current Company payroll procedures. Nothing in this Agreement or the Release shall: (i) alter or reduce any vested, accrued benefits (if any) the Employee may be entitled to receive under any 401(k) plan or other retirement plan established by the Company and in which the Employee participated as of the Separation Date; (ii) affect the Employee’s right to elect and receive continuation of the Employee’s health insurance coverage under the Company’s health plans pursuant to applicable law and COBRA (as defined below); or (iii) affect the Employee’s right to receive (x) any base salary that accrued through the Separation Date and was unpaid, (y) any reimbursable expenses that the Employee incurred before the Separation Date but were unpaid (subject to the Company’s expense reimbursement policy).

7. Release of Claims. The Employee and her heirs, assigns, and agents release, waive, and discharge the Company and Released Parties as defined below from each and every claim, action or right of any sort, known or unknown, arising on or before the date on which the Employee executes this Agreement, which the Employee may by law release, including, but not limited to, any claims that could be raised through the Company’s Resolve process. In addition, the Company and its current and former parents, subsidiaries, related companies, partnerships and joint ventures, and, with respect to each of them, their predecessors and successors, release, waive, and discharge the Employee and her heirs, assigns and agents from each and every claim, action or right of any sort, known or unknown, arising on or before the date on which the Employee executes this Agreement, including any claims that could be raised through the Company’s Resolve Process.

2

8. Restrictive Covenants.

3

4

9. Breach by Employee. The Company’s obligations to the Employee after the Effective Date are contingent on Employee’s obligations under this Agreement. Any material breach of this Agreement by the Employee will result in the immediate cancellation of the Company’s obligations under this Agreement and of any benefits that have been granted to the Employee by the terms of this Agreement except to the extent that such cancellation is prohibited by law or would result in the invalidation of the foregoing release.

10. Employee Availability. The Employee agrees to make herself reasonably available to the Company to respond to requests by the Company for information pertaining to or relating to the Company and/or the Company’s affiliates, subsidiaries, agents, officers, directors or employees that may be within the knowledge of the Employee. The Employee will cooperate reasonably with the Company in connection with any and all existing or future litigation or investigations brought by or against the Company or any of its affiliates, agents, officers, directors or employees, whether administrative, civil or criminal in nature, in which and to the extent the Employee has material information relating thereto. The Company will reimburse the Employee for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses, including reasonable lost salary, if any, incurred as a result of such cooperation. Nothing herein shall prevent the Employee from communicating with or participating in any government investigation.

11. Future Employment. The Company is not obligated to offer employment to the Employee (or to accept services or the performance of work from the Employee directly or indirectly) now or in the future.

12. Severability of Provisions. In the event that any provision in this Agreement is determined to be legally invalid or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, and cannot be modified to be enforceable, the affected provision shall be stricken from the Agreement, and the remaining terms of the Agreement and its enforceability shall remain unaffected.

13. Return of Company Property. The Employee agrees that as of the Effective Date, she will have returned to the Company any and all remaining Company property or equipment in her possession, including but not limited to: any computer, handheld electronic device, and credit card assigned to her. The Employee agrees that as of the Effective Date she will have no outstanding balance on her corporate credit card for which appropriate T&L accounting has not been submitted.

14. Confidentiality of Terms of Agreement. The Employee shall keep strictly confidential all the terms and conditions, including amounts, in this Agreement and shall not disclose them to any person other than the Employee’s spouse, the Employee’s legal or financial advisor, or U.S., state or local governmental officials who seek such information in the course of their official duties, unless compelled by law to do so. If a person not a party to this Agreement requests or demands, by subpoena or otherwise, that the Employee disclose or produce this Agreement or any terms or conditions thereof, to the extent permitted by law the Employee shall immediately notify the Company and shall give the Company an opportunity to respond to such notice before taking any action or making any decision in connection with such request or subpoena. For the avoidance of doubt, the parties acknowledge that they will comply with all Securities and Exchange Commission requirements and other laws and regulations, including those that may require disclosure of this Agreement.

5

15. Waiver of Participation in Certain Employee Benefits Plans. The Employee will not be entitled to receive any severance pay or other layoff benefits under the Genworth Financial, Inc. Layoff Payment Plan or Key Employee Severance Plan(s) (the “Severance Plans”). The Employee hereby knowingly and voluntarily waives any rights to participate in or continue to participate in the Severance Plans. After receiving a copy of this waiver, the Employee agrees that she has had ample and reasonable opportunity to carefully review and consider this waiver of benefits under the Severance Plans. The Employee agrees that no person has pressured her or used duress to affect her decision. The Employee’s execution of this wavier is entirely voluntary.

16. Entire Agreement. This Agreement sets forth the entire agreement and understanding between the parties hereto and may be changed only with the written consent of both parties and only if both parties make express reference to this Agreement. The parties have not relied on any oral statements that are not included in this Agreement. This Agreement supersedes all prior agreements and understandings concerning the subject matter of this Agreement. Any modifications to this Agreement must be in writing and signed by Employee and an authorized employee or agent of the Company.

17. Dispute Resolution. Any disagreement between the Employee and the Company concerning anything covered by this Agreement or concerning other terms and conditions of the Employee’s employment or the termination of the Employee’s employment will be settled by final and binding arbitration pursuant to the Company’s Resolve program. The Conditions of Employment document previously executed by the Employee and the Resolve Guidelines are incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full in this Agreement. The decision of the arbitrator will be final and binding on both the Employee and the Company and may be enforced in a court of appropriate jurisdiction.

18. Applicable Law. This Agreement shall be construed, interpreted and applied in accordance with the law of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to conflict of law principles.

19. Indemnification. The Company understands and agrees that any indemnification obligations under its governing documents or any indemnification agreement between the Company and the Employee with respect to the Employee’s employment or other service as an officer of the Company, if any, shall remain in effect and survive the termination of the Employee’s employment under this Agreement as set forth in such governing documents or indemnification agreement.

20. Code Section 409A. This Agreement, to the extent it provides for payments to or on behalf of the Employee that are subject to Code section 409A, is intended to comply with Code section 409A and all applicable regulations and other generally applicable guidance issued thereunder. The Company reserves the right to modify or amend this Agreement in its discretion with or without the consent of the Employee to the extent necessary for the Agreement to comply with Code section 409A; provided, however, any such modification shall conform as close as possible to the original intent and economics of the Agreement. Neither the Company nor the Employee shall take any action to accelerate or delay the payment of any monies and/or provision of any benefits in any manner which would not be in compliance with Section 409A of the Code (including any transition or grandfather rules thereunder). The termination of the Employee’s employment as of the Separation Date shall constitute a “separation from service” within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code.

I acknowledge that I understand the above agreement includes the release of all claims as stated above. I understand that I am waiving unknown claims and I am doing so intentionally.

6