STOCKCHASE

His preferred choice is to get this through Power Financial (PWF-T). Probably the most conservatively run of the life companies.

2011-10-04

BUY

20.410

Michael Smedley

Almost down to its lows in 2009. Dividend should be secure. All insurance companies are affected by the stock market.

2011-09-27

HOLD

20.660

Lorne Steinberg

Doesn’t think market hates it so much as all the insurance companies including MFC and SLF. These companies all have exposure to the equity markets. Interest rates are also low and a large chunk of their income comes from interest investments. He still owns some of the others. They are well run long term.

2011-09-20

Comment

20.360

Barry Schwartz

Market hates it insurance companies altogether even though they are having strong sales. Market is concerned about exposure to interest rates, segregated markets and how much equity they have. Long-term this is a great entry point and better opportunity than the banks.

2011-09-14

HOLD

21.550

John Zechner

You would get a better upside play out of Manufactures Life (MFC-T) but would also be taking on more risk. This is fine. You have to remember that when bond yields fall, this is more of a problem for lifecos. There are names with more potential upside.

2011-08-19

BUY

22.070

If you don't have any insurance, this is a good opportunity.

2011-08-08

Comment

23.430

Owns this one indirectly through Power Financial (PWF-T). Of the 3 major lifecos, this would be his favourite. Has the least exposure in the US market. Best managed. Because the lifecos are dependent on interest rates, they do well when rates are higher, not so well when they are lower.

2011-07-27

DON'T BUY

24.450

Douglas Kee

Prefers MFC and SLF. They all have the same problem. Under loved in the market. They have problems in the US operations in Putnam and health areas. Doesn’t see big dividend increases coming through on the insurance companies. Power Corp has a better record on dividend increases.

2011-07-21

HOLD

24.210

Lorne Steinberg

Like all insurance companies, it is quite exposed to the equity markets. There is a lot of fear that if equity markets go down, this will have a direct impact on this company. This is a great company and incredibly well-financed.

2011-07-14

PAST TOP PICK

25.480

(A Top Pick July 2/10. Up 11.07%.) Would prefer to buy this one below $25, but okay at this price.

2011-06-30

DON'T BUY

25.190

Paul Harris, CFA

Stable yield. In a low interest rate environment it is hard for lifeco companies to make money. They all have aggressive fixed income portfolios. Life companies around the world are down. Don’t worry about their equity exposure. Lifecos will go up when interest rates go up.

2011-06-23

DON'T BUY

25.920

Terry Shaunessy

He would prefer to own this through Power Financial (PWF-T). Wouldn’t be concerned about any potential time bombs (Re: European debt crisis). Doesn’t expect Lifecos to go anywhere. (This one is the best.)

2011-06-01

BUY

26.270

Michael Sprung

Quarter was in line with expectations. Was hit at about $0.08 a share with the New Zealand and Japan disasters, which was less than expected. Also made some gains on a recent mark to market real estate because of a change in reporting standards.

2011-05-17

BUY

25.980

20%+ ROE. Doesn’t have the upside like MFC if markets go crazy. Probably going to raise dividend late this year or early next. A nice safe place to be in to tuck away for a few years.

2011-03-10

BUY

26.660

Hank Cunningham

4.65% bond due August 2020? Strong AA. One of the best managed life companies in Canada. Well structured balance sheet with assets and liabilities being well matched. Yield is just slightly under 4.65%. Would include them in a laddered portfolio.

2011-02-03

BUY

25.630

Jason Donville

Great company and well managed and probably the one performing best of the lifecos. 4.8% dividend. Not a lot of growth in the short term and there are better options such as CIBC (CM-T) or National bank (NA-T).

2010-12-06

SELL

26.430

Hank Cunningham

Preferred shares. When rates go up, preferreds may plummet. Company is well run, but these are long-term securities and are perpetual so have a very long duration and are influenced by long-term interest-rate movements.

2010-10-28

PAST TOP PICK

25.340

Mark Wisniewski

(A Top Pick Aug 12/09. Up 8.86%.) Still a buy.

2010-10-13

BUY

25.030

This is his favourite insurance company. He would prefer to buy it at $24 but it doesn't have the same leverage and credit issues that Manulife (MFC-T) and Sun (SLF-T) have. It is the most likely to raise its dividend sooner. Good ROE. $28-$29 in 1 year.

2010-09-02

HOLD

24.930

Don Lato

All insurance companies are exposed to the equity markets and the low interest rate environment. At 10X next year's earnings and with a nice yield, he would Hold.

2010-08-11

TOP PICK

23.810

Hap (Robert) Sneddon FCSI

Has about twice the yield of Manulife (MFC-T) and Sun Life (SLF-T). Stable base gives its stability. He has traded this buying below $24-$25 and selling in the high $20's. In this range, you can accumulate this.

2010-07-02

BUY on WEAKNESS

24.490

If you are happy with the dividend along the way you could hold it. There are a couple of spots to buy more.

2010-06-04

PAST TOP PICK

26.200

(A Top Pick May 28/09. Up 17.6%.) Treated this as a trading stock and was in and out. Just started nibbling again. Seems to run out of gas when it gets up to the $28-$29 area. Good yield.

2010-05-14

HOLD

27.990

Lifecos lagged banks on the recent move. If you think the market is going to recover, this one is probably the safest of the Big 3. If earnings come as he expects over the next few quarters it should be a small increase, which could propel it towards $30. (See Top Picks.)

2010-04-19

HOLD

27.070

Prakash Hariharan

(Market Call Minute) Worried about insurance companies being soft.

2010-03-01

BUY

27.200

Michael Simpson, CFA

Likes the sector. Particular about which name, but they own it through Power Financial. You will get earnings growth and dividend growth.

2010-02-23

BUY

25.750

Andrew McCreath

Fundamentally this is a much safer stock than Manulife (MFC-T). Cdn$ is under pressure like all commodity-based currencies. If you are looking to Buy & Hold for the longer-term it's not a bad entry point. Otherwise you might consider a Canadian bank stock instead.

2010-02-05

BUY

25.630

Jason Donville

On lifecos, great West life (GWO-T) would be good for the conservative investor who needs more dividend and Manulife for the more aggressive investor looking for capital appreciation. These are the 2 that he would focus on. Almost 5% dividend yield.

2010-01-22

Comment

26.550

Prefers to own this through Power Financial (PWF-T) because this also gives you IGM Financial (IGM-T).

2010-01-18

PAST TOP PICK

26.780

(A Top Pick Feb 2w3/09. Up 86.6%.) Expecting a normal 8%-10% increase from this point on.

2009-12-30

BUY

24.490

Alexander Lane, B Comm, C

(Market Call Minute.) Good yield of 5% and safe to sit with.

2009-12-10

SELL

23.720

Jason Donville

Had a pretty good move and there is now better value in smaller insurance companies. Interest now seems to be shifting from the lifecos into the property and casualty. Intact Financial (IFC-T) would be an interesting switch.

2009-12-03

BUY

23.960

Christine Poole

Well managed and more conservative than Manulife (MFC-T) as they were not aggressive in the variable annuity market. 5.1% yield

2009-11-26

BUY

24.190

Derek Webb, CFA

Lifecos are down basically because the market is down because of credit and stock market concerns. If you have any kind of time horizon you can't go wrong.

2009-10-29

HOLD

25.190

Don Lato

(Market Call Minute) Prefers MFC

2009-10-21

BUY

25.900

(Market Call Minute.) Great long-term purchase. His preference is a shift from banks to insurance at this point.

2009-09-21

Comment

26.000

Christine Poole

Manulife (MFC-T) versus Great West (GWO-T)? Manulife is much more equity market sensitive as it has a higher portfolio of guaranteed variable annuities. Great West has much less exposure and their guarantee is not as aggressive. Manulife’s new management team has decided to de-risk the business and build up capital, which is one of the reasons they cut the dividend.

2009-08-26

TOP PICK

24.950

Mark Wisniewski

5.995% bond maturing Dec 31/12. Likes insurance companies more than they did a while ago. With the stabilization of the equity markets (?) right now insurance companies are a lot better investment than they were. Very cheap.

2009-08-12

PAST TOP PICK

26.230

(A Top Pick Aug 18/08. Down 10.93%.) Has held up better than the other insurance companies by far. Still a good Hold.

2009-08-10

TOP PICK

22.660

Other less exposed to the equity market than other Lifecos. If there were going to be a write-down it would probably be about $.50 on their UK exposure. Great dividend track record. 4% yield. Low multiple.

2009-07-15

BUY

22.250

Ara Nalbandian

His favourite Canadian life insurance company. Have managed through the cycle better than their peers. Avoided the equity related segregated fund business. Trading around 9X forward earnings, which is very attractive. He owns it through Power Corp. (POW-T).

2009-07-03

SELL

22.880

Ken McCord

This is part of the financials. Be thankful for your gains and put your money elsewhere. This is a traders market.

2009-06-09

Comment

22.680

Owns this indirectly through his holdings of Power Financial (PWF-T). Prefers over Manulife (MFC-T).

2009-06-08

TOP PICK

23.410

He is underweight financials but does own Royal (RY-T), Scotia (BNS-T) and this one. Has a lot of health and dental, which is a “steady-Eddie” kind of business. 5.5% yield. Because of the government’s treatment of income trusts people are yield deprived.

2009-05-28

WAIT

16.390

Laura Wallace

Just took a large write-down on their Putnam acquisition done in 07. Well capitalized and in good position. Strong operations in North America. Has quite a bit of exposure to the UK tier 1, tier 2 capitals that are vulnerable if banks are nationalized. Wait and see how this is resolved.

2009-04-07

DON'T BUY

17.270

Jeff Parent B. Eng. FCSI

He is personally buying their preferred shares, not the commons. Could see the common pull back to $14.50 quite easily. If it recovers, first resistant point will be $18.75 and if it could break through the $20 level, $21 would be another serious resistance point. Underlying concerns in the financials have to be relieved first.

2009-03-18

TOP PICK

14.360

Financials have got hit so much that they are down at the bottom. This one has the best capital and balance sheet of all the Canadian financials and probably the least market exposed. Oversold and should have a good bounce back.

2009-02-23

Comment

18.250

Life insurance business is a great long-term business, especially with the demographics of an aging population. Dividend is safe.

2009-02-13

DON'T BUY

18.530

Had some bad paper from Europe, especially British banks, which have hurt them in the near term. Quality company that in the long run will do well but in the short run still have some potential downside. Too early.

2009-01-27

Comment

17.860

David Cockfield

Almost 7% yield. All the life companies are operating under a bit of a cloud lately. Prefers owning it through its parent Power Financial (PWF-T).

2009-01-23

BUY

20.300

Bill MacLachlan

You should be quite safe. Likes this company. He owns Power Corp. instead, which owns this company. Very conservatively managed.

2008-12-11

PAST TOP PICK

30.440

(A Top Pick Oct 29/07. Down 14%.) Will be ingesting their US acquisition. Life insurance companies are down almost as much as some of the banks but their credit exposure is way smaller.

2008-09-17

TOP PICK

31.090

Just reported. Numbers were great and they raised the dividend. Has US exposure but on the health insurance side so not too economically sensitive. US Putnam group is not going that well but is only about 4% in total. About 11X earnings.

2008-08-18

BUY

26.880

Neil Wickham

Good solid life insurance business. Expects their US Putnam holdings to produce some outstandingly good earnings growth over the next 2 or 3 years.

2008-07-14

BUY

31.270

A financial with a lot of US exposure. Was hurt with the general malaise towards financials although it wasn’t a big player in bad commercial paper or mortgages. Also suffering because a lot of its operations are in the US and the strong Cdn$ hurt them. Great company and good management.

2008-06-13

VAGUE

30.140

Manulife is a better international play. Great West is North American. If you’re looking for turnaround Great West is the better buy. Long-term Manulife is stronger.

2008-03-27

DON'T BUY

30.170

Will struggle a little bit because of a $500 million lawsuit.

2008-03-03

BUY

31.350

(Market Call Minute.) A great insurance company. A Buy, but he prefers to play it through Power Financial (PWF-T).

2008-02-28

BUY

32.340

Paul Gardner, CFA

Excellent management and excellent products. Probably a good Buy at this time. Likes the dynamics of ManuLife (MFC-T) a little better.

2008-02-05

HOLD

33.600

(Market Call Minute.) Prefers Power Financial (POW-T).

2008-01-11

DON'T BUY

34.910

Ross Healy

Feels that a lot of money has left the banks and money managers to move into the lifecos. It means that companies such as Sun Life (SLF-T), Great West (GWO-T) and Manufacturers (MFC-T) have caught up to the peak of and are exceeding their FMV.

2007-12-20

Comment

35.000

David Baskin

(Market Call Minute.) He prefers buying this lens through the top company, Power Corporation (POW-T).

2007-12-18

TOP PICK

36.330

Good buying opportunity.They are the 5th biggest mutual fund company in the US. He bought at mid to high 20's.

2007-10-29

SELL

36.420

Chyanne Fickes

They apparently are also involved with the sub prime situation. Given that it has done really well in the last little while, relative to ManuLife (MFC-T), she would switch.

2007-10-01

BUY

35.580

Brian Acker, CA

His model price is $37.08. About a 6% upside. Would buy it for a long-term hold.

2007-08-30

BUY

35.820

Favours insurance companies over banks right now. This one favours US exposure and has seen the worst of the Cdn$ rise.

2007-08-29

BUY

35.050

The Putnam group was a pretty substantial acquisition. This company has a good track record on acquisitions. Pretty reasonable valuation. Well run.

2007-07-31

BUY

35.050

Brendan Caldwell

The whole Power Financial group (PWF-T) has been well managed for a long period of time.

2007-07-24

HOLD

34.380

Bob Stodgell

Thinks it's a good company. It's lagged over the last little while, due to interest rate fears.

2007-06-11

Comment

36.580

On a PE basis, this is the most expensive of the 3, Sun Life (SLF-T) and Manufacturers (MFC-T), but also has one of the best yields.

2007-05-16

BUY

36.030

Likes this company a lot. Their acquisition of Putnam Investments in the US was good. Expect this will increase more US investment interest.

2007-05-14

TOP PICK

35.440

The under-performer among the life companies, partially because of their acquisition of the Putnam Group. This gives them a good mutual fund business. Very well run. Good dividend increases.

2007-04-23

TOP PICK

35.090

Acquired Putnam Group in the US, which will really put a stamp on themselves in the US. Increase dividends.

2007-03-29

BUY

35.000

Jonathen Wellum, B. Comm, B. Sc

Owns a little, but prefers the other insurers. Acquiring the Putnam Group, the US mutual fund, which should give them good synergies. Will probably issue shares so the stock price could be depressed in the near term.

2007-03-26

BUY

34.000

David Baskin

Likes the company but prefers to own it through its parent, Power Corp. (POW-T). Made a very interesting acquisition in the US. If they are successful in turning it around, it'll be a home run.

2007-03-14

BUY

37.360

Patrick Kim

Putnam Fund acquisition in the US is being looked on very favourably. Issue could exposure to the US market and the equity market is strong.

2007-02-22

Comment

35.760

David Baskin

Prefers to play this one by buying Power Corp. (POW-T). Acquisition of the Putnam Funds is a very interesting opportunity for Great West. Gives it a platform in the US as well as a turnaround possibility.

2007-02-13

BUY

35.270

Picking up Putnam Funds in the US, so they are becoming a substantial wealth management company. Have a long-term track record of being very disciplined. Very investor and shareholder focused.

2007-02-09

BUY

35.460

Chris Smith

Indirectly owns this one through Power Financial (PWF-T). Quite optimistic with the acquisition of the US Putnam Group.

2007-02-07

TOP PICK

34.440

(Due to technical difficulties, comments were not available.)

2007-01-11

BUY

33.930

Jean-Francois Tardif

This is an industry that has been growing for a long, long time. Population is aging and people need insurance. An extremely well-managed company. He doesn't do large cap companies.

2007-01-10

PAST TOP PICK

33.340

(A Top Pick Feb 24/06. Up 13.8%.) Picked it as it was lagging a little bit. Would still buy in the $33 range. 20% plus ROE.

2006-12-21

BUY

33.630

A fantastic performer. Nice, study, creeping higher and higher. Well-managed. Good dividend yield.

2006-11-27

TOP PICK

32.900

The mutual fund of insurance companies. Very good dividend at almost 3%. Under the radar screen in relation to Manulife (MFC-T).

2006-11-07

SELL

32.720

Peter Gibson

ROE has deteriorated. Interest rate sensitive, so it is very important that interest rates go lower. He just sold his holdings.

2006-11-03

BUY

31.380

Michael Smedley

Should be good and solid. Tracking up nicely.

2006-10-19

BUY

30.570

Paul Harris, CFA

Longer term will continue to do well. Insurance industry is not very expensive and pays a good yield.

2006-10-04

DON'T BUY

30.600

Dividend of 3.1%. Has experienced problems with its US businesses. If you want to be in the life insurance sector, would prefer Manu Life (MFC-T). Would prefer banks over life insurance.

2006-10-03

TOP PICK

29.190

20% ROE. Health insurance in the US is a big part of their insurance side. Probably has only 10/12% earnings growth over the next quarter, but with the high ROE and 3% dividend, he can see 15% for the next 12 months.

2006-09-11

BUY

29.270

Chyanne Fickes

It's really done nothing for so long and has been very much range bound. Outlook for them is quite good.

2006-08-31

HOLD

28.880

His favourite life insurance is Manufacturers (MFC-T) but this is also a great company.

2006-08-22

HOLD

28.750

Robert Floyd

Performing reasonably well. Earnings will be based on the market somewhat so can be cyclical.

2006-08-02

BUY

28.500