Great West Lifeco (GWO.TO) Buy, Sell or Hold

Great West Lifeco (GWO.TO)

93.99

+0.08 (0.09%)

as of Nov 13, 2026, 9:00:00 pm Market Closed.

421 watching

SELL

Had a pretty good move and there is now better value in smaller insurance companies. Interest now seems to be shifting from the lifecos into the property and casualty. Intact Financial (IFC-T) would be an interesting switch.

BUY

Well managed and more conservative than Manulife (MFC-T) as they were not aggressive in the variable annuity market. 5.1% yield

BUY

Lifecos are down basically because the market is down because of credit and stock market concerns. If you have any kind of time horizon you can't go wrong.

HOLD

(Market Call Minute) Prefers MFC

BUY

(Market Call Minute.) Great long-term purchase. His preference is a shift from banks to insurance at this point.

COMMENT

Manulife (MFC-T) versus Great West (GWO-T)? Manulife is much more equity market sensitive as it has a higher portfolio of guaranteed variable annuities. Great West has much less exposure and their guarantee is not as aggressive. Manulife’s new management team has decided to de-risk the business and build up capital, which is one of the reasons they cut the dividend.

TOP PICK

5.995% bond maturing Dec 31/12. Likes insurance companies more than they did a while ago. With the stabilization of the equity markets (?) right now insurance companies are a lot better investment than they were. Very cheap.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Aug 18/08. Down 10.93%.) Has held up better than the other insurance companies by far. Still a good Hold.

TOP PICK

Other less exposed to the equity market than other Lifecos. If there were going to be a write-down it would probably be about $.50 on their UK exposure. Great dividend track record. 4% yield. Low multiple.

BUY

His favourite Canadian life insurance company. Have managed through the cycle better than their peers. Avoided the equity related segregated fund business. Trading around 9X forward earnings, which is very attractive. He owns it through Power Corp. (POW-T).

SELL

This is part of the financials. Be thankful for your gains and put your money elsewhere. This is a traders market.

COMMENT

Owns this indirectly through his holdings of Power Financial (PWF-T). Prefers over Manulife (MFC-T).

TOP PICK

He is underweight financials but does own Royal (RY-T), Scotia (BNS-T) and this one. Has a lot of health and dental, which is a “steady-Eddie” kind of business. 5.5% yield. Because of the government’s treatment of income trusts people are yield deprived.

WAIT

Just took a large write-down on their Putnam acquisition done in 07. Well capitalized and in good position. Strong operations in North America. Has quite a bit of exposure to the UK tier 1, tier 2 capitals that are vulnerable if banks are nationalized. Wait and see how this is resolved.

DON'T BUY

He is personally buying their preferred shares, not the commons. Could see the common pull back to $14.50 quite easily. If it recovers, first resistant point will be $18.75 and if it could break through the $20 level, $21 would be another serious resistance point. Underlying concerns in the financials have to be relieved first.

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Great West Lifeco (GWO.TO)