Sun Life Financial Inc (SLF-T)

Better business model than ManuLife.
Well regarded CEO. 
Strong dividend yield.
Company will perform better with rising interest rates.
Unsure on growth prospects for company.
Tremendous opportunity to run business more efficiently. 

Both high quality, good balance sheets, strong management. Both attractive value right now. MFC is 8x earnings, SLF is 11x. Asian business is a differentiator, which both have. MFC is much more international, with 80% of revenues from outside Canada, and 50% from Asia. Covid has slowed Asia, but when it bounces back, MFC should benefit a bit more. MFC yield slightly higher. Long term, you'll do well in both. 

A better performing insurance stock has been SLF stock, which has rallied 25% in the past five years compared to Manulife‘s 3.25%. However, Sun Life pays a lower dividend yield of 4.34% (still nothing to scoff at) and trades at a higher PE of 12.19x. Like MFC, Sun Life has significant Asian operations and could enjoy tailwinds now that China has ended lockdowns. Most recently, SLF inked a C$260-million deal with Hong Kong’s Dah Sing Bank to supply life insurance to the latter’s 570,000 customers for 15 years. Last September, SLF spent US$214 million to buy Advisors Asset Management which will bolster its alternative investment business particularly to high-net worth Americans. Read 4 Insurance Stocks to Stay Safe in a Risky Market for our full analysis. 

Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research. Strong performance in asset management. Growing profits despite higher mortality rates. Increased dividend by 20%. Premium valuation justified. Unlock Premium - Try 5i Free