Christine PooleManulife FinancialMFC.TOTOP PICKSep 09, 2014

Both fairly highly ranked, and moving up, in the Canadian equity universe. The banks have been dominating the top of the rankings, and the insurers have been catching up. TD is slightly higher ranked, with a bit better performance.

When two stocks are looking good and under accumulation, and you can't decide, you can always split your position between the two of them.

A bit overbought. Chart looks healthy, with higher highs and higher lows. 200-day MA continues to move higher. Financials in Canada are, in general, getting a little overvalued. Be cautious, be selective. 

Trading over 2x book value now. Not a lot of earnings growth, about 8-9% (still decent, but not explosive). 

Slow and steady does win the race.

Won't buy at current levels. Would consider in a market pullback.

They're freeing capital from their legacy businesses and doing well now. They have healthy growth in Asia and wealth management is doing well. Relative to the banks, MFC looks attractive.

Decent-sized miss on alternative portfolio results, so short-term penalty box. Longer term, nothing has changed. Reiterated 18% ROE target for 2027. Still a good story. Wait for weakness to add.

Concern over earnings may explain drop today. Chart and 200-day MA still look intact. Very nice dividend. As with the rest of the market, have to be careful of overbought situations. Still sees double-digit growth. Watch the charts for entry points.

In the doldrums following the financial crisis. Recently, taken the lead. The opportunity in this name has, perhaps, been fully realized.

He needs either a macro or company-specific hiccup to happen before putting new $$ to work in the market. At that time, you may want to take profits on this and deploy elsewhere. Watch out for headline contagion risk from private credit issues.

He just bought it. Great execution, fine asset management and is a cash cow. Can increase the dividend again. Yields nearly 5% and trades under 10x PE. They will keep buying back stock. Also, they have little credit exposure, so no credit worries.

Viewed as less dependable as SLF and less exciting at Great West Life. MFC is well-capitalized with a decent PE though lifecos aren't great growers. Is reliable.

Doesn't know why this has come off. Maybe profit-taking after a good run. Is a reasonable, long-term holding. Is seeing growth in Asia. Life insurance is a stable business. Pays a good dividend yield.

It has pulled back to 10X this year's earnings and is quite a lot lower than the banks' ratio. It has shown success in Asia and in wealth management.

All the financials have come off slightly, especially in the insurance space. 

MFC has come down right to its 200-day MA, so you could argue it's got a bit more upside. High-quality name. Beta is double that of GWO, but no greater than the TSX itself. Scale is better than GWO. This one looks more attractive. He wouldn't switch, total return won't be that different. Yield is 4.3%.

GWO has a lower beta, so it hasn't moved as much as MFC. Good quality assets, very steady earnings growth. Yield is 4.3%.

Bit of disappointment last quarter in US operations. Asia still has growth. Valuation in line with history at ~11x forward PE. Can still hold for its decent dividend yield.

He might own this, not sure. Recently, he predicted it would pull back to $45 which it appears to be doing. If you're a long-term holder for the 4.1% dividend, you're not in danger unless this falls below $45. If it bounces at $45, he would add more. But if you sold some shares now, that's a good idea.