manulife financial
Toronto symbol MFC, sells life and other forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment management services. It operates in 19 countries and territories worldwide.
MANULIFE FINANCIAL $21.51 (Toronto symbol MFC; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $42.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.9%; www.manulife.ca) sells life and other forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment management services.
In the three months ended December 31, 2014, Manulife’s earnings per share gained 2.9%, to $0.36 from $0.35 a year earlier. Revenue fell slightly, to $7.15 billion from $7.18 billion.
At the end of 2014, Manulife had $691.1 billion of assets under management, up 15.4% from $598.9 billion at the end of 2013. A large part of the increase came from its late 2014 acquisition of U.K.-based Standard Life’s Canadian insurance operations for $4 billion.
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In the three months ended December 31, 2014, Manulife’s earnings per share gained 2.9%, to $0.36 from $0.35 a year earlier. Revenue fell slightly, to $7.15 billion from $7.18 billion.
At the end of 2014, Manulife had $691.1 billion of assets under management, up 15.4% from $598.9 billion at the end of 2013. A large part of the increase came from its late 2014 acquisition of U.K.-based Standard Life’s Canadian insurance operations for $4 billion.
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ISHARES MSCI CANADA INDEX FUND $27.18 (New York symbol EWC; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds the stocks in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Canada Index. The fund has a 0.49% MER.
The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 7.0%; TD Bank, 8.3%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 5.2%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.9%; CN Railway, 4.4%; Suncor Energy, 3.3%; Enbridge, 3.3%; Bank of Montreal, 3.1%; and Manulife Financial, 2.7%.
If you want to own a Canadian index fund, you should buy the iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index Fund (see previous page). You’ll pay about a third of the management fees.
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The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 7.0%; TD Bank, 8.3%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 5.2%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.9%; CN Railway, 4.4%; Suncor Energy, 3.3%; Enbridge, 3.3%; Bank of Montreal, 3.1%; and Manulife Financial, 2.7%.
If you want to own a Canadian index fund, you should buy the iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index Fund (see previous page). You’ll pay about a third of the management fees.
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ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX ETF $21.90 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange. Expenses are just 0.17% of assets.
The index mostly consists of high-quality companies. However, it must ensure that all sectors are represented, so it holds a few we wouldn’t include.
The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 7.8%; TD Bank, 7.1%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 5.6%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.4%; CN Railway, 4.8%; Suncor Energy, 3.6%; Enbridge, 3.6%; Bank of Montreal, 3.5%; BCE, 3.2%; Manulife Financial, 3.1%; Canadian Natural Resources, 2.9%; Trans- Canada Corp., 2.8%; Brookfield Asset Management, 2.7%; CIBC, 2.6%; and CP Rail, 2.5%.
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The index mostly consists of high-quality companies. However, it must ensure that all sectors are represented, so it holds a few we wouldn’t include.
The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 7.8%; TD Bank, 7.1%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 5.6%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.4%; CN Railway, 4.8%; Suncor Energy, 3.6%; Enbridge, 3.6%; Bank of Montreal, 3.5%; BCE, 3.2%; Manulife Financial, 3.1%; Canadian Natural Resources, 2.9%; Trans- Canada Corp., 2.8%; Brookfield Asset Management, 2.7%; CIBC, 2.6%; and CP Rail, 2.5%.
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Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. That’s different from mutual funds, which you can only buy at the end of the day at a price that reflects the fund’s value at the close of trading. Prices of ETFs are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but their low management fees give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....
SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $39.03 (Toronto symbol SLF; Shares outstanding: 612.7 million; Market cap: $24.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.sunlife.ca) sells life insurance, savings, retirement and pension products to individuals and corporations. Sun Life has $734.4 billion of assets under management. It mainly operates in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., but it continues to expand in Asia. In 2013, it sold its riskier, money-losing U.S. annuity business, which sells products that guarantee minimum long-term returns even if markets fall....
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. That’s different from mutual funds, which you can only buy at the end of the day at a price that reflects the fund’s value at the close of trading. Prices of ETFs are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but their low management fees give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....
MANULIFE FINANCIAL $22.93 (Toronto symbol MFC; Shares outstanding: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $42.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.7%; www.manulife.ca) sells life and other forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment management services.
In the three months ended September 30, 2014, Manulife’s earnings per share gained 8.3%, to $0.39 from $0.36 a year earlier. Revenue rose 7.4%, to $9.5 billion from $8.8 billion, on strong sales of insurance and wealth management products in Asia.
As of September 30, Manulife had $663 billion of assets under management. After the quarter ended, it bought U.K.-based Standard Life’s Canadian insurance operations for $4 billion. In all, Standard Life has about 2,000 employees across Canada, along with 1.4 million clients and $52.0 billion of assets under management.
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SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $43.15 (Toronto symbol SLF; Shares outstanding: 611.6 million; Market cap: $25.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.3%; www.sunlife.ca) sells life insurance, savings, retirement and pension products to individuals and corporations. The company has $698.2 billion of assets under management. It mainly operates in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., but it continues to expand into Asia. In August 2013, Sun Life sold its riskier, money-losing U.S. annuity business, which offers products that guarantee minimum long-term returns even if markets fall....
We still think investors will profit most—and with the least risk—by buying shares of well-established, dividend-paying stocks with strong business prospects.
These are companies that have strong positions in healthy industries. They also have strong management that will make the right moves to remain competitive in a changing marketplace.
Stocks like these give investors an additional measure of safety in today’s volatile markets. And the best ones offer an attractive combination of moderate p/e’s (the ratio of a stock’s price to its per-share earnings), steady or rising dividend yields (annual dividend divided by the share price) and promising growth prospects.
Here are 20 stocks we think meet those criteria:
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These are companies that have strong positions in healthy industries. They also have strong management that will make the right moves to remain competitive in a changing marketplace.
Stocks like these give investors an additional measure of safety in today’s volatile markets. And the best ones offer an attractive combination of moderate p/e’s (the ratio of a stock’s price to its per-share earnings), steady or rising dividend yields (annual dividend divided by the share price) and promising growth prospects.
Here are 20 stocks we think meet those criteria:
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ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX FUND $21.54 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange....