Sun Life Financial Inc (SLF.TO)

Technical analysis: The buyers are still buying despite the stock hitting a top, while sellers are waiting for higher prices to sell. The buyers have more conviction than the sellers.

He likes the insurance sector at this time. They are well diversified globally. They have a strong balance sheet with a large $7b excess capital position. Insurance companies tend to be more profitable when interest rates rise. Yield 3.6%. (Analysts’ price target is $57.92 )

Likes it more than Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC-N) as it is less exposed to Asia. Yield is OK. Caught on a range now. Good on the long term, a little boring in the present time. Has taken profits recently. Low risk stock.

They are well diversified. Rising interest rates will be good for them. He would lean into the U.S. insurance space as he prefers a little more laser focus. Overall, he would favour investing in US financials, such as Schwab or E-Trade instead of insurance.

(A Top Pick Sep. 7/17, Up 16%) They are doing very well. Earnings grow 10%. Dividend is growing and it is still a core holding. They are not making many mistakes and are a little less risky than MFC-T, although he still holds both.

A core position for him. Consistent dividend growth and it's long been reporting strong earnings. He likes their wealth management business which will benefit from Baby Boomers retiring and needing management (i.e. annuities).

He would choose an insurer with more global scale like PRU-N. He does not dislike SLF-T but they had quite a run and PRU-N is a better opportunity.

(A Top Pick Mar 17/17, Up 8%) He would have expected it to do better. It is very well diversified and is big in wealth management. It has growing exposure in Asia. It is well capitalized and well managed. He is staying with it.

This trades at a premium (compared to Manulife) now, and historically. The gap has widened recently. They have more fee-based revenues in their business, which is preferable. He generally prefers Intact Financial for insurance investments.

Manulife (MFC-T) versus Sunlife (SLF.T). He is not sure what the issue with Manulife might be. He holds Manulife in his RRSP and would buy more if it pulled back to $22.65. Sunlife is doing a good job and is way over-performing Manulife.

(A Top Pick March 9/17, Up 14%) Still likes it. Trending above their moving averages. Aging demographics in North America and rising interest rates are tailwinds. He likes that 55% of revenues come from the US and Asia. Manulife is looking interesting too.

She owns Manulife for clients. They like the larger Asian exposure that Manulife has. Sun Life has a big asset, MFS Management, in the US and it has been suffering outflows for a period of time now. Her preference is with Manulife.

MFC-T vs. SLF-T. They are both in the right area. They do well seasonally at this time. He would favour SLF-T from a technical perspective. It has a rising bottom. It has pulled back down a little today. He favours banks over lifecos.

(A Top Pick April 20/17, Up 12%) Huge asset management platform. Strong stable in India. Increased in Canada with Excel Funds. Will see near-term growth of 8% and will benefit from U.S. tax cuts. Continues to own it.

(A Top Pick March 17/17. Up 14%.) He likes insurance companies. In a rising interest rate environment, that’s always a good place to be. He could see this taking a pause, because their US MFS holding represents a good chunk of earnings, and that industry is facing fee pressures and is very dependent on asset growth. Also this is a little less represented in Asia than one of their competitors. Targeting 8%-10% growth in earnings over the next few years. Thinks they could make it, but it could be a bit of a struggle. Consider this to still be a Hold if you own it.