Manulife Financial: “The Worst is Over”

Manulife's fortunes are rising,
according to its CEO.

Despite losses in 2010, Manulife Financial CEO Donald Guloien told the Insurance & Investment Journal that the company believes the worst is over when it comes to risk management.

For example, according to their annual report, the insurer has reduced the $400 million impact that a 1% drop in interest rates would have had on earnings.

Plus, at the end of the year, the insurer took advantage of a rebound in the stock market to improve its hedging program. However, reported premiums and deposits of $65.1 billion in 2010 are $8.7 billion lower compared to the $71.3 billion reported in 2009.

Lisa Harbinson wanted a new life insurance policy for her mother Joyce. She thought mom was paying too much at over $100 a month for a $10,000 term policy that she had borrowed money against and now it was time to pay it back. (1 of 81)

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Last year, Manulife also focused on better targeting its products — especially the more profitable ones — as well as further strengthening its reserves.

Finally, the company hopes to obtain a return of more than 14% on its key products and to stay away from products that generate less than that. Guloien outlined products with a lower return as those that expose the company to interest rate or market rate risk.