Manulife Financial Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Manulife Financial Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Manulife delivered strong second-quarter growth: APE sales rose 21%, core earnings increased 12%, and core EPS climbed 16%, with core ROE reaching 16.3%.

Asia and wealth management were key contributors, including record Asian earnings and CAD 4 billion in global wealth-management net inflows.

Canada’s sales momentum was offset by claims pressure: Canadian APE sales grew 23%, but core earnings fell 10% because of unfavorable disability and group-insurance claims experience.

Management expects insurance experience to trend toward neutral by the end of 2026 and retains the ability to reprice group-insurance policies.

A new long-term-care reinsurance deal reduced risk while capital remained strong: The Munich Re agreement transfers biometric risk on CAD 3.2 billion of reserves, bringing total long-term-care morbidity-risk reduction to 24%.

Manulife ended the quarter with a 136% LICAT ratio and returned CAD 1.4 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.

Manulife Financial NYSE: MFC reported second-quarter 2026 results marked by double-digit growth in insurance sales, higher core earnings and continued capital returns, while also announcing a third long-term care reinsurance transaction in three years.

President and Chief Executive Officer Phil Witherington said annualized premium equivalent, or APE, sales increased 21% from a year earlier, supported by double-digit growth in each insurance segment.

New business contractual service margin rose 16%, while the company’s total CSM balance increased 20%.

Core earnings rose 12% year over year and core earnings per share increased 16%, helped by ongoing share repurchases.

Manulife reported core return on equity of 16.3%, up 130 basis points from the prior-year quarter.

Net income totaled CAD 2.1 billion, exceeding core earnings as higher-than-expected public equity returns more than offset lower-than-expected returns on alternative long-duration assets.

Asia remained a major source of growth. Core earnings in the region increased 21% to a record level, while APE sales rose 21%, led by double-digit gains in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.

Hong Kong APE sales climbed 37%, reflecting higher savings-product sales across distribution channels, according to Chief Financial Officer Colin Simpson.

Manulife Asia President and CEO Steve Finch said the company’s Hong Kong business remained diversified, with its domestic franchise accounting for about 75% of year-to-date sales.

Mainland Chinese visitor, or MCV, business represented about 25% of sales, though that mix can vary by period.

Analysts asked about potential effects from Chinese regulatory and tax enforcement developments involving offshore insurance policies and investments.

Finch said it was too early to assess implications, but he did not expect mainland Chinese visitor sales to go to zero and said any near-term impact would be manageable.

He added that Manulife expects the longer-term trend of mainland Chinese customers accessing Hong Kong for products and services to continue.

Finch said Hong Kong’s second-quarter sales growth was driven principally by customer offerings and campaigns rather than accelerated purchasing ahead of regulatory changes.

Growth in agency and bancassurance more than offset lower MCV sales year over year, he said.

In Global Wealth and Asset Management, Manulife recorded CAD 4 billion of net inflows, driven by institutional business and continued contributions from CQS and Comvest.

The result was partially offset by outflows in North America...