Manulife Financial Corp. says fourth-quarter profits fell from a year earlier but rose throughout fiscal 2022.
The insurance giant said net income attributable to shareholders was $1.89 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $2.08 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
Net income attributable to shareholders for the year was $7.3 billion, up from $7.1 billion a year earlier.
Analysts expected fourth-quarter net income of $1.86 billion, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
The company said higher profits for the year were related to U.S. annuity transactions and benefits from changes in the Canadian corporate tax rate.
He says investment-related gains this year were partly due to favorable fixed-income reinvestments, as well as higher-than-expected returns on long-term assets such as private equity, infrastructure and timberlands, partially offset by real estate.
In global wealth and asset management, retail net outflows were $1.6 billion compared to net inflows of $29.2 billion in 2021 due to higher redemptions and lower gross flows. The net inflow of funds from institutional asset management was $5 billion and the net outflow from pension benefits was $100 million. As a result, global net inflows of wealth and asset management funds were $3.3 billion in 2022, up from $27.9 billion in 2021.
Total assets under management and administration as of December 31 were $1.31 trillion, up 2.9% from $1.28 trillion in the prior quarter and down 5.9% from $1.43 trillion dollars as of December 31, 2021.
Annual premium equivalent sales in Canada increased 3% (to $1.26 billion in 2022 from $1.23 billion in 2021), primarily due to higher sales of group insurance, participating insurance and travel insurance, partially offset by the impact of market volatility to the demand for segregated fund products and lower sales of general life, health and dental insurance.
In Canada, Manulife has added “innovative customer-centric enhancements,” including the expansion of its Vitality program to all eligible new retail and universal life policies, and a new feature that allows retiree customers to book one-on-one appointments with PlanRight advisors directly in the mobile app, which resulted in over 1,780 calls for advisor meetings.
“The macro environment is shaped by three megatrends: the growth and emergence of the middle class in Asia, the aging global population and the digitization of the consumer,” said president and CEO Roy Gori in a statement.
