Manulife reinsure $5.8B of reserves of low ROE Canadian Universal Life block

Manulife Financial Corporation announced it has agreed to reinsure $5.8B of reserves of low ROE Canadian Universal Life block to RGA Life Reinsurance Company of Canada. Roy Gori, Manulife President & Chief Executive Officer said, “This transaction is the largest Universal Life reinsurance transaction in the Canadian insurance industry and represents another milestone in our journey to transform our portfolio to higher ROE and lower risk businesses. This deal, valued at 16.2 times earnings and priced at book value further demonstrates our focus and ability to execute on attractive terms and our commitment to unlocking shareholder value. With this transaction, we will have released $11 billion of capital since 20185 and improved Core ROE by ~5% since 2017. We remain highly focused on exploring additional organic and inorganic actions to deliver value to shareholders.”