The company said Thursday it expects to accelerate buybacks from the
The move comes after a quarter that saw the insurance giant close one major deal to off-load holdings with limited growth potential and announce a second that closed in early April.
The first was a
Reinsurance deals involve shifting the risk of existing insurance policies, and a chunk of their premiums, to another company to free up capital by reducing liabilities.
Manulife chief executive
"We will return the
The increased share buybacks come as the federal government is putting in place a new two per cent tax on share repurchases that will cover transactions as of the start of 2024.
The government said the new tax, which follows a one per cent buyback tax introduced in the
Company executives didn't mention the tax on the call, but did say they've been investing to make sure sales agents have the digital tools needed to be highly productive.
Manulife's focus on buybacks has help boost its core return-on-equity measure, which neared 16 per cent at the end of 2023 and came in at 16.7 per cent in the first quarter.
The returns are up significantly from the 11 per cent Manulife was at in 2017 as it's worked to shed low-return segments, said Gori.
"We freed up
Manulife reported Wednesday after the close of markets that its net income attributed to shareholders for the quarter ending
Its core earnings were
This report by The Canadian Press was first published
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