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Manulife Financial (MFC - Free Report) has inked an annuity reinsurance transaction with Venerable Holdings Inc. Per the agreement, John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.), a subsidiary of Manulife will reinsure about 76% of its legacy U.S. Variable Annuity (VA) block to Corporate Solutions Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Venerable. The deal is expected to see the light of day in the first quarter of 2022.
While the transaction should lower total U.S. VA net amount at risk (NAR) by more than 75%, it should also lower equity sensitivities from variable annuity guarantees by about 54%. Guarantee value exposure on U.S. VA block is estimated to be lowered by 78%.
Being one of the three dominant life insurance companies within the domestic Canadian market, Manulife estimates $2 billion capital release due to the deal. Thus, the life insurer intends to increase the proposed share buyback up to 5% to mitigate the impact on the bottom line as it estimates earnings to reduce by $200 million or 10 cents per share in 2022. As of Oct 31, 2021, Manulife had about 1.9 billion common shares issued and outstanding.
The remaining capital will further boost Manulife's sturdy excess capital position and can be deployed to capitalize on organic and inorganic opportunities.
Manulife looks poised to deliver core EPS growth between 10% and 12% and core ROE of more than 13% over the medium term.
The deal is expected to be accretive to book value with a one-time after-tax gain of $750 million, increasing book value per share by 38 cents and representing an attractive transaction multiple of 10.2.
Having a reinsurance agreement is a common practice for insurers to lower their risk profile. Reinsurance Group of America (RGA - Free Report) has its seasoned block of the U.S. annuity business reinsured with Modern Woodmen of America.
This is also in sync with Reinsurance Group’s strategy to grow its asset-intensive business. Reinsurance Group manages the asset-intensive business to provide a targeted spread between the interest rate earned on investments and the interest rate credited to the underlying interest-sensitive contract liabilities.
Shares of Manulife, carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), have gained 15.2% year to date compared with the industry’s growth of 8.7%. Solid in-force business growth in Asia, expanding Wealth and Asset Management business and solid capital should help Manulife retain the momentum.
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Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks from the same industry are American Equity Investment Life Holding Company and Athene Holding .
American Equity carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 and 2022 has moved up 3.9% and 5.1% in the past seven days. American Equity delivered a four-quarter average earnings surprise of 31.49%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 earnings of Athene, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has moved up 9.9% in the past 30 days and implies 123.7% year-over-year growth. Athene delivered a four-quarter average earnings surprise of 46.12%.
Shares of American Equity and Athene have gained 32% and 99.7%, respectively while that of Reinsurance Group lost 3.5%, in the same time frame.
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Manulife (MFC), Venerable Holdings Ink Reinsurance Deal
Manulife Financial (MFC - Free Report) has inked an annuity reinsurance transaction with Venerable Holdings Inc. Per the agreement, John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.), a subsidiary of Manulife will reinsure about 76% of its legacy U.S. Variable Annuity (VA) block to Corporate Solutions Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Venerable. The deal is expected to see the light of day in the first quarter of 2022.
While the transaction should lower total U.S. VA net amount at risk (NAR) by more than 75%, it should also lower equity sensitivities from variable annuity guarantees by about 54%. Guarantee value exposure on U.S. VA block is estimated to be lowered by 78%.
Being one of the three dominant life insurance companies within the domestic Canadian market, Manulife estimates $2 billion capital release due to the deal. Thus, the life insurer intends to increase the proposed share buyback up to 5% to mitigate the impact on the bottom line as it estimates earnings to reduce by $200 million or 10 cents per share in 2022. As of Oct 31, 2021, Manulife had about 1.9 billion common shares issued and outstanding.
The remaining capital will further boost Manulife's sturdy excess capital position and can be deployed to capitalize on organic and inorganic opportunities.
Manulife looks poised to deliver core EPS growth between 10% and 12% and core ROE of more than 13% over the medium term.
The deal is expected to be accretive to book value with a one-time after-tax gain of $750 million, increasing book value per share by 38 cents and representing an attractive transaction multiple of 10.2.
Having a reinsurance agreement is a common practice for insurers to lower their risk profile. Reinsurance Group of America (RGA - Free Report) has its seasoned block of the U.S. annuity business reinsured with Modern Woodmen of America.
This is also in sync with Reinsurance Group’s strategy to grow its asset-intensive business. Reinsurance Group manages the asset-intensive business to provide a targeted spread between the interest rate earned on investments and the interest rate credited to the underlying interest-sensitive contract liabilities.
Shares of Manulife, carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), have gained 15.2% year to date compared with the industry’s growth of 8.7%. Solid in-force business growth in Asia, expanding Wealth and Asset Management business and solid capital should help Manulife retain the momentum.
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks from the same industry are American Equity Investment Life Holding Company and Athene Holding .
American Equity carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 and 2022 has moved up 3.9% and 5.1% in the past seven days. American Equity delivered a four-quarter average earnings surprise of 31.49%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 earnings of Athene, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has moved up 9.9% in the past 30 days and implies 123.7% year-over-year growth. Athene delivered a four-quarter average earnings surprise of 46.12%.
Shares of American Equity and Athene have gained 32% and 99.7%, respectively while that of Reinsurance Group lost 3.5%, in the same time frame.