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.
TRIMARK CANADIAN FUND $19.97 (CWA Rating: Aggressive) (AIM Funds Management Inc., 5140 Yonge Street, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario M2N 6X7. 1-800-631 -7008; Website: www.aimfunds.ca. Buy or sell through brokers.) uses a bottom-up stock-picking style (using fundamentals such as earnings, cash flow and low debt) that looks at valuation measures and then tries to pick stocks selling at a discount to long-term value. The fund’s 10 largest holdings are TD Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Manulife Financial, Power Corporation, Plum Creek Timber, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Thomson Corp., Yamana Gold, Toromont Industries and Molex Inc. The fund’s portfolio breaks down by sector as follows: Financials, 30.5%; Consumer discretionary, 19.1%; Information technology, 11.2%; Industrials, 9.5%; Materials, 8.2%; Consumer staples, 7.0%; Health care, 6.4%; Energy, 4.2%; and Telecommunication services, 2.6%....
MANULIFE FINANCIAL $39.51 (Toronto symbol MFC; SI Rating: Above-average) 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 has assets under administration of $399 billion. In the three months ended September 30, 2007, Manulife’s earnings rose 9.9%, to $1.1 billion or $0.70 a share, from $967 million or $0.62 a share a year earlier. Revenue rose 11.3%, to $9.4 billion from $8.4 billion. Manulife has raised its dividend 9.1%, to $0.24 from $0.22. The shares now yield 2.2%. Manulife’s operations are diversified among life and health insurance, segregated mutual funds, and reinsurance. Its geographic diversification in the U.S. and Asia, including China, offers growth prospects....
Insurance has a stable image, but it has always been highly competitive and volatile. That’s why we’ve said for some time that insurers are riskier than they look. For safety-conscious investors, right now we recommend just three Canadian insurance companies as buys: Manulife Financial, Great-West Lifeco and Sun Life Financial. MANULIFE FINANCIAL $39.51 (Toronto symbol MFC; SI Rating: Above-average) 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 has assets under administration of $399 billion. In the three months ended September 30, 2007, Manulife’s earnings rose 9.9%, to $1.1 billion or $0.70 a share, from $967 million or $0.62 a share a year earlier. Revenue rose 11.3%, to $9.4 billion from $8.4 billion. Manulife has raised its dividend 9.1%, to $0.24 from $0.22. The shares now yield 2.2%....
AIC DIVERSIFIED CANADA FUND $44.27 (CWA Rating: Conservative) mainly holds shares of Canadian companies of average or above-average quality. It also holds stocks of some U.S. firms. The $1.4 billion fund’s 10 largest holdings are Power Financial, Canadian Oil Sands Trust, TD Bank, Shoppers Drug Mart, FedEx, Thomson Corporation, Brookfield Asset Management, Royal Bank of Canada, Manulife Financial and Royal Bank of Scotland. AIC Diversified Canada holds just 19 stocks. The fund holds 53.0% of its assets in Financial services stocks. The rest of the portfolio breaks down as follows: Consumer staples, 16.1%; Energy, 9.9%; Consumer discretionary, 7.4%; Health care, 7.0%; Industrials, 4.0%; and Conglomerates, 1.6%....
AIC AMERICAN ADVANTAGE FUND $6.20 (CWA Rating: Aggressive) (AIC Group of Funds, 1375 Kerns Road, Burlington, Ont., L7R 4X8, 1-800-263-2144; Web site: www.aicfunds.com. Buy or sell through brokers) invests mostly in U.S. stocks, with over 99% of assets in the financial services area. The fund’s holdings in this segment break down as follows: Life & health insurance, 19.5%; Diversified banks, 13.0%; Multi-line insurance, 12.8%; Property & casualty insurance companies, 12.6%; Investment banking & brokerage, 10.7%; Wealth management, 7.0%; Diversified financials, 6.5%; Thrifts & mortgage finance, 6.2%; Insurance brokers, 5.8%; Consumer finance, 5.7%; and Conglomerates, 0.4%. The $85.0 million AIC American Advantage’s top 10 holdings are Toronto-Dominion Bank, Prudential Financial, JP Morgan Chase, American International Group, Manulife Financial, AFLAC, Hartford Financial Services, Northern Trust, Merrill Lynch and Willis Group Holdings. This fund holds just 21 stocks....
These two AIC funds hold much of their portfolios in financial services stocks. This sector has moved down lately, mostly on concerns over a general lack of liquidity for asset-backed securities. We prefer diversified funds. But if you must focus on something, then the finance sector still offers sound long-term prospects. If you do invest in these funds, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so they won’t overly concentrate your stock and mutual fund holdings in the financial sector. AIC AMERICAN ADVANTAGE FUND $6.20 (CWA Rating: Aggressive) (AIC Group of Funds, 1375 Kerns Road, Burlington, Ont., L7R 4X8, 1-800-263-2144; Web site: www.aicfunds.com. Buy or sell through brokers) invests mostly in U.S. stocks, with over 99% of assets in the financial services area....
FIDELITY TRUE NORTH FUND $31.61 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Fidelity Investments Canada, 483 Bay St., Suite 200, Toronto, Ont. M5G 2N7. 1-800-263-4077; Web site: www.fidelity.ca. Load fund — available from brokers) uses a “bottom-up” approach (using fundamentals such as earnings, cash flow and low debt) to identify undervalued companies. Fidelity True North Fund’s top holdings include high-quality stocks such as Manulife Financial, TD Bank, Suncor Energy, Rogers Communications, En- Cana Corporation, Bank of Montreal, Research in Motion, Canadian Natural Resources, Potash Corporation and Royal Bank. The fund now invests 8.6% of its assets outside of Canada. The fund’s breakdown by economic segment is: 28.8% in Financials, 25.5% in Energy, 13.7% in Materials, 8.8% in Information technologies, 7.4% in Telecommunication services, 5.1% in Industrials, 4.8% in Consumer discretionary and 1.2% in Consumer staples....
SCOTIA CANADIAN GROWTH FUND $74.27 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Scotia Securities, 40 King Street West, 6th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 1H1. 1-800-268-9 269; Website: www.scotiabank.com. No load — deal directly with the company.) uses fundamental analysis to identify what the managers see as investments that have the potential for above-average growth. The $619.8 million Scotia Canadian Growth Fund’s 10 largest holdings are Manulife Financial, Suncor Energy, Royal Bank, TD Bank, Research in Motion, Canadian Natural Resources, Sun Life Financial, CN Railway, Bank of Nova Scotia and EnCana. Scotia Canadian Growth currently holds 41.7% of its portfolio in the Resources sector. Its next-largest holding is Financial services at 29.3%. Over the last 10 years, Scotia Canadian Growth posted a 6.8% annual rate of return. That’s less than the S&P/TSX’s return of 9.8%. The fund gained 19.2% over the past year, compared to a gain of 21.4% for the S&P/TSX. Scotia Canadian Growth’s MER is 2.12%....
CIBC CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $26.81 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (CIBC Securities, 5140 Yonge Street, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario M2N 6X7. 1-800-631-7008; Website: www.cibc.com. No load — deal directly with the company.) uses a “bottom-up” approach (using fundamentals such as earnings, cash flow and low debt) to identify companies that trade at reasonable valuations and yet have growth potential. The $642.2 million fund’s top holdings are Petro- Canada, EnCana, Manulife Financial, Teck Cominco, Bank of Nova Scotia, TD Bank, Canadian National Railway, Suncor Energy and Research in Motion. CIBC Canadian Equity holds 36.6% of its portfolio in Financial services stocks and 23.6% in Resource sector stocks....
BMO EQUITY FUND $33.37 (BMO Mutual Funds, 77 King Street West, Suite 4200, Royal Trust Tower, Toronto, Ont., M5K 1J5, 1-800-665-7700; Web site: www.bmo.com. No load — deal directly with the bank) (CWA Rating: Conservative) generally invests mostly in ‘blue-chip” Canadian companies. These stocks are selected based on the manager’s outlook for the industry they operate in, the earnings record of each company, the strength of management and the potential for growth. BMO Equity Fund’s 10 largest holdings are Manulife Financial, Suncor Energy, Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank, EnCana Corporation, Canadian Natural Resources, Rogers Communications, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, CIBC and Bank of Nova Scotia. The $2.3 billion fund currently holds 41.9% of its portfolio in the Resources sector. Its next-largest holding is Financial services at 28.4%....