MGIC run off confirmed

MGIC Investment Corp has stopped looking for a buyer for its Australian lenders' mortgage insurance operation and has informed APRA that it will not seek any new business, the Financial Review reported.

MGIC foreshadowed that run off of its Australian start-up business was likely back in January.

The insurance company disclosed then that it had suspended writing new business in Australia.

MGIC opted to return to the Australian market after an absence of three decades at the tail of the long boom. It began underwriting home loans in late 2007 but attracted few clients.

The company invested $130 million in capital in its Australian start-up. Start-up losses were $6 million, though the business traded profitably in 2008, according to the AFR.