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 $39.07 (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 $426 billion. In the three months ended March 31, 2007, Manulife’s earnings excluding one-time items rose 10.8%, to $1.1 billion or $0.68 a share, from $952 million or $0.60 a share a year earlier. Revenue rose 2.6%, to $8.6 billion from $8.4 billion. Manulife has raised its dividend 10%, to $0.22 from $0.20. The shares now yield 2.3%. 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. SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $50.16 (Toronto symbol SLF; SI Rating: Above-average) offers savings, retirement, pension and life and health insurance products and services to individuals and corporations. The company operates mainly in Canada, the U.S. and the UK, and also in Asia, China and India. It has assets under administration of $435 billion. In the three months ended June 30, 2007, Sun Life’s earnings rose 15.2%, to $590 million or $1.03 a share, from $512 million or $0.88 a year earlier. Revenue fell 27.8%, to $4.5 billion from $6.2 billion, due to new accounting rules for investments....
AIC DIVERSIFIED CANADA FUND $46.42 (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 $1.6 billion fund’s 10 largest holdings are Power Financial, Canadian Oil Sands Trust, TD Bank, Shoppers Drug Mart, Johnson & Johnson, Thomson Corporation, Brookfield Asset Management, Royal Bank, Manulife Financial and Royal Bank of Scotland. AIC Diversified Canada Fund holds just 23 stocks. The fund holds 53.6% of its assets in Financial services stocks. The rest of the portfolio breaks down as follows: Consumer staples, 16.1%; Energy, 8.2%; Consumer discretionary, 7.5%; Health care, 7.0%, Industrials, 3.0%; Information technology, 2.3%; and Conglomerates, 1.5%....
AIC AMERICAN ADVANTAGE FUND $7.73 (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. This segment breaks down as follows: Life & health insurance, 17.8%; Property & casualty insurance companies, 14.2%; Investment banking & brokerage, 13.2%; Multi-line insurance, 12.9%; Diversified banks, 10.9%; Diversified financials, 6.7%; Wealth management, 6.6%; Insurance brokers, 6.2%; Consumer finance, 4.3%; Regional banks, 3.6%; Thrifts & mortgage finance, 3.5%; and Conglomerates, 0.8%. The $115.5 million AIC American Advantage’s top 10 holdings are Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, American International Group, Manulife Financial, AFLAC, Hartford Financial Services, TD Bank, Northern Trust, Merrill Lynch and Willis Group Holdings. This fund holds just 19 stocks....
These two AIC funds hold much of their portfolios in financial services stocks. We prefer diversified funds. But if you must focus on something, finance is a relatively stable sector. 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 $7.73 (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....
SCOTIA CANADIAN GROWTH FUND $72.43 (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 $614.0 million Scotia Canadian Growth Fund’s 10 largest holdings are Manulife Financial, Suncor Energy, Royal Bank, TD Bank, Goldcorp, Nexen, Bank of Montreal, BCE Inc., Bank of Nova Scotia and Alcan. Scotia Canadian Growth currently holds 31% of its portfolio in the Financial services industry. Its next-largest holding is Energy at 22%....
CIBC CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $27.77 (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 $662.8 million fund’s top holdings are Petro- Canada, EnCana, Manulife Financial, Teck Cominco, Bank of Nova Scotia, TD Bank, Canadian National Railway, Brookfield Asset Management, BCE Inc. and Alcan. CIBC Canadian Equity holds 38% of its portfolio in Financial services stocks and 25% in Energy stocks....
BMO EQUITY FUND $33.88 (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, TD Bank, Sun Life Financial, EnCana Corporation, Alcan, Potash Corporation, CIBC and Bank of Nova Scotia. The $2.3 billion fund currently holds 33% of its portfolio in the Financial services industry. Its next-largest holding is Energy at 22%....
RBC CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $29.54 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (RBC Funds, P.O. Box 7500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario. M5W 1P9. 1-800-463-3863; Web site: www.royalbank.com. No load — deal directly with the bank) invests mostly in larger-capitalization stocks, but also looks for opportunities in small and mid-cap stocks. The fund’s 10 largest holdings are TD Bank, Manulife Financial, Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank, EnCana, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, Alcan, CIBC and Bank of Montreal. The $5 billion fund holds 32% of its holdings in Financial stocks. It also holds 25% in Energy stocks. Over the last ten years, RBC Canadian Equity posted a 10.4% annual rate of return. That’s about equal to the S&P/TSX’s gain of 10.1%. The fund made 22.7% over the last year, equal to the gain of 22.7% for the S&P/TSX. The fund’s MER is 1.99%....
Here are five large funds run by each of Canada’s big-five banks. Each holds the kind of conservative, well-balanced portfolios of high quality stocks we recommend. All five have a high weighting in Financial services and Energy stocks. However, they stick with high-quality issues with sound fundamentals, so these concentrations don’t add a lot of risk. Each has its quirks, but overall they are well positioned for low-risk returns. TD CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $32.70 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (TD Asset Management, P.O. Box 7500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario. M5W 1P9. 1-800-463-3863; Web site: www.tdcanadatrust.ca. No load — deal directly with the bank) uses a “bottom-up” approach (using fundamentals such as earnings, cash flow and low debt) to identify undervalued companies with strong growth potential. TD Canadian Equity Fund’s 10 largest holdings are Royal Bank, Suncor Energy, TD Bank, Rogers Communications, Alcan, Canadian Oil Sands Trust, CN Railway, Ivanhoe Mines, Goldcorp and EnCana....