Manulife's Asset Management Business Continues To Flourish

On Jun 22, 2016, we issued an updated research report on Manulife Financial Corporation (NYSE:MFC) .

Manulife is consistently expanding its wealth and asset management business around the world. The company continues to see strong investments in all public asset classes.

Recently, Manulife's investment division, Manulife Asset Management, announced its plan to expand its operations in Europe. This asset management arm of the company has identified Europe (and the wider EMEA market) as a significant growth area. This has prompted the life insurer to make long-term investments in the continent.

Manulife is aggressively developing its business in Asia, which in turn, is leading to solid operational results. Solid growth in new business volumes, better product margins and favorable policyholder experience has been contributing to the improvement.

Further, Manulife hopes to diversify its source of procuring funds as evidenced by its issuance of notes outside Canada in the first quarter.

However, the life insurer anticipates a decline in core earnings in the U.S. division, owing to strong competitive pressures and a continued low interest rate environment.

In addition, Manulife expects the global equity markets to remain weak and volatile in the near future. As a result, higher reserve charges for its equity-linked products are expected, which will also hurt earnings.

With respect to earnings performance, the life insurer delivered positive surprise in the two of last four quarters with an average of about 1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has also witnessed upward estimate revision over the last 60 days for 2016 and 2017.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Currently, Manulife sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Investors interested in other stocks might consider GWG Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:GWGH) , Health Insurance Innovations, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIIQ) and Torchmark Corp. (NYSE:TMK) . While both GWG Holdings and Health Insurance Innovations sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Torchmark holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>