TORONTO (Reuters) – Manulife Financial said on Monday it expects to generate more than C$22 billion ($16.11 billion) of cash by 2027, as the Canadian insurer laid out a plan ahead of its investor day in Asia for cash generation in a higher interest-rate environment.
The insurer, which has increasingly focused on Asia for growth, is organising the two-day event on Tuesday in Hong Kong and Jakarta, the second time it has done so in the region.
Manulife introduced the cumulative remittances target as it focuses on cash generation and has completed reinsurance deals to unlock millions of dollars.
This year, the company signed a C$5.8-billion reinsurance deal with RGA Life and reinsured C$13 billion of its reserves with KKR & Co-backed Global Atlantic last year.
“We significantly strengthened the foundations of our company through organic and inorganic actions, while delivering superior financial results and an industry-leading total shareholder return,” CEO Roy Gori said in a statement.
“I am convinced that the best is still ahead of us,” he said.
The insurer also forecast core return on equity of 18%-plus by 2027, higher than the 13% it recorded in 2018 and over 15% in 2022.
Gori said in March the insurer had released C$11 billion of capital since 2018 and improved the core return on equity by about 5% since 2017.
The insurer and its smaller Canadian peer Sun Life have both sought growth in Asia as they look to diversify away from home, sending some of their top executives to lead the region.
Sun Life’s CEO, Kevin Strain, and Manulife’s Gori, both held top roles in Asia before taking the top seats. More recently, both insurers sent their CFOs – Phil Witherington from Manulife and Manjit Singh from Sun Life- to lead the Asia operations.
($1 = 1.3655 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Editing by Rod Nickel)
