manulife financial

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $50.89 (Toronto symbol SLF; Shares outstanding: 613.7 million; Market cap: $31.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.6%; www.sunlife.ca) sells life insurance, savings, retirement and pension products. The company mainly operates in Canada, the U.S., Asia and the U.K....

A: Dividend 15 Split Corp., $10.88, symbol DFN on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 31.6 million; Market cap: $343.8 million; www.dividend15.com), is a split-share investment corporation that holds shares of 15 companies: BCE Inc., CI Financial Corporation, Bank of Nova Scotia, Thomson Reuters, National Bank of Canada, Loblaw Cos., Sun Life Financial, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, TransCanada Corporation, Manulife Financial, TD Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal, Telus Corporation and Enbridge.

The company can also invest up to 15% of its portfolio in other stocks....

ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX ETF $24 (Toronto symbol XIU; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Conservative Market cap: $10.8 billion) is a low-fee way to buy the top Canadian listed stocks. Specifically, the ETF holds stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index—the largest, most heavily traded equities on the TSX.

The ETF’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 8.7%; TD Bank, 8.0%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.9%; Enbridge, 5.3%; CN Railway, 4.8%; Suncor Energy, 4.5%; Bank of Montreal, 3.8%; TransCanada Corp., 3.3%; BCE, 3.3%; Manulife Financial, 3.1%, Canadian Natural Resources, 3.0%; CIBC, 3.0%; Brookfield Asset Management, 2.8% and Canadian Pacific Railway, 1.9%.

The industry breakdown is as follows: Financials (41%), Resources (29%), Industrials (9%), Telecommuncations (6%), Consumer discretionary (5%), Consumer staples (4%), Information technology (2%), Utilities (2%) and others (2%).

Still, this ETF’s assets are highly concentrated in the financial and resources sectors.

The fund began trading in September 1999....

These six ETFs mostly hold high-quality stocks that are widely traded on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. Each fund mirrors, or tracks, the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from ETFs focused on narrower indexes or themes such as solar power and biotechnology....

Sun Life is one of Canada’s oldest life insurance companies. At the same time, it continues to aggressively expand in Asia. That region’s middle class is saving and investing more as its rapid growth continues. The resulting boost to Sun Life’s earnings should let it keep raising its dividend....

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $36 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; shares outstanding: 989.9 million; Market cap: $35.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 4.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco....

GREAT-WEST LIFECO $34.40 (Toronto symbol GWO; shares outstanding: 990.0 million; Market cap: $34.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest insurance company, after Manulife Financial (Toronto symbol MFC)....

These two businesses of Power Financial are leaders in their respective industries. That cuts the risk for each and lets them both pay high, sustainable dividends. Still, for new buying, we prefer IGM over Great-West.

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC....

These six ETFs mostly hold high-quality stocks that are widely traded on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. Each fund mirrors, or tracks, the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from ETFs focused on narrower indexes or themes such as solar power and biotechnology.


Of course, you pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell these ETFs....

MANULIFE FINANCIAL CORP. $25.91 (Toronto symbol MFC; Shares o/s: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $50.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.2%; www.manulife.ca) is now Canada’s largest life insurer.


The company also operates in the U.S....