Manulife Financial (MFC.TO)

Good place to put money now with the Canadian dividend tax credit.

It's been a way to play higher-for-longer interest rates. But he doesn't know how it will do if rates go down. MFC's core business has been doing well and could expand. It benefits from aging demographics through its life insurance business.

He has owned it for a long time and is overweight for clients. He is not buying more at these levels but also not selling. It is still reasonably valued and pays a 4 1/2% dividend.

Higher rates are actually good for insurance companies.

Excellent business that has seen very strong share performance. Will continue to own shares. Great balance sheet with stable dividend. Continues to reinvest in business. Also getting exposure to USA and Asia business lines as well. 

Lifeco's have been out performing Canadian banks lately. Has owned shares for a long time. Strong share price lately nice to see. Solid dividend yield good for investors. Would recommend a partial position. 

Cheaper PE at 8.5x than peers, decent growth rate of 9%. Nice beat recently with Asia up 21%, EPS up 18%, ROE starting to get higher at 16.7%. Helped by rates being higher for longer. Insurance companies still better than the banks, and fund flows continue. Nice yield of 4.5%, with 8% growth.

Ideally, he'd like to buy lower. But can still buy here and it will work for your portfolio over the next 1-2 years.

Stock popped after got lower-return LTC off its books. Cleaning up commercial real estate used to back the LTC liabilities. If this progress continues, a strong hold.

Company has been range bound for ~10-15 years. Recent strength in stock price good for investors. Higher interest rates good for investors. If interest rates fall, not good for business. Would recommend holding shares. 

Patience pays off but the better move has already been made. It is a slow growth company. It has some struggles with its Asian operations but has a decent dividend yield (well covered), not too expensive and is safe.

Debating quality of company within investment team. Sees money coming out of financial sector in Canada - going into insurance companies. Not overly positive on direction of business. If expectations for rate cuts continues - will be good for business. Would recommend investors to hold the position. 

Transformed itself, market's recognizing that. Can confidently buy now. Pretty competitive, safe dividend yield, around 5%. Taken steps to pivot business away from riskier liabilities. Still trades at a discount.

The moving averages are trending higher and up a new leg higher. Has great exposure to a fast-growing Asian market. Pays a 4.9% dividend and cheap at 1.5x price-to-book.

Their big product was guaranteeing a life insurance policy on stock returns. So, when the market melted down, there was a big scare. Now, the market has come back, and those policies won't lose as much. MFC used to be held up by a fortress balance sheet. 15 years later, they've grown into that balance sheet. Saw nice earnings growth in 2023 and expects it also for 2024.

Business headed in right direction. Profitability increasing, return on equity also strong. New management has turned things around. Current yield ~5% is very stable. Interest rates not a concern - have weather rising rates well. Would continue to buy - still owns shares.