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- The Quiet Financial Giant Building Income and Growth at the Same Time
The Quiet Financial Giant Building Income and Growth at the Same Time
Record earnings. A rising dividend. Expanding margins in Asia and asset management. This global insurer is compounding capital while others navigate volatility.
When markets swing and headlines grow louder, the strongest compounders do not chase attention. They quietly build earnings, strengthen their balance sheets, and expand their future profit base.
This one is doing exactly that, while raising its dividend and positioning itself for long-term global growth. Are you going to bet on solid and steady?

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Interest rates move. Markets swing. Headlines shout about recession risk one month and soft landings the next. In that kind of environment, capital does not disappear.
It migrates. It looks for balance sheets that can absorb volatility and business models that quietly compound through it.
Manulife Financial Corporation (NYSE: MFC) sits squarely in that migration path. This is not a high-flying disruptor chasing headlines.
It is a global insurer and asset manager with deep roots in North America and Asia, generating earnings from protection products, wealth management, and long-duration assets that reward patience.
When volatility rises, its scale and diversification begin to matter more, not less.

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A global engine built for durability
At its core, Manulife Financial is powered by two engines that complement each other beautifully.
The first is insurance. Long-duration life and health policies across Canada, the U.S., and fast-growing Asian markets generate recurring premiums and predictable cash flows.
This is patient capital. Policies are written for decades, not quarters, which gives management time and flexibility to invest float prudently and manage risk cycles rather than react to them.
The second engine is wealth and asset management. Through retirement platforms, mutual funds, and institutional mandates, Manulife oversees hundreds of billions in client assets.
That business throws off fee income that scales with markets over time, creating an earnings stream that is less capital-intensive than insurance and more responsive when sentiment improves.

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The structural growth story hiding inside the balance sheet
Geographically, Asia is the quiet growth lever. Rising middle classes, underpenetrated insurance markets, and expanding wealth pools create a long runway.
North America provides ballast and steady profitability. Together, that blend reduces reliance on any single economy or product line.
Crucially, this is a business that has spent the past decade simplifying. It has exited non-core operations, tightened underwriting discipline, and leaned into higher-return segments.
The result is a cleaner balance sheet, stronger capital ratios, and a sharper focus on return on equity.
If you’re thinking of adding MFC to your portfolio, the takeaway is straightforward. This is not a single-cycle trade on rates.
It is a diversified financial platform with multiple levers, built to generate cash across environments.
Action: This is a stock that performs best when treated as a long-term acquisition. View operational stability as an entry signal, not a reason to wait for perfection. |

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Record earnings, real momentum
Manulife Financial did not just edge past expectations in 2025. It delivered record core earnings of $7.5 billion, up 3% year over year, with fourth quarter core earnings rising 5% to $2.0 billion
That is not flashy growth. It is a controlled, repeatable execution. The kind that builds confidence quarter after quarter.
Look beneath the surface, and the quality stands out. Core EPS climbed 8% for the year, and core return on equity held at a strong 16.5%
That tells you this is not growth bought at the expense of profitability. Capital is being put to work efficiently, and management is not chasing volume for the sake of headlines.

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Long-term ambition becomes measurable growth
Asia continues to justify the strategic focus. Core earnings there rose 18% for the full year, with double-digit growth in new business value and contractual service margin.
That momentum feeds directly into future earnings power, strengthening the runway ahead. Meanwhile, Global Wealth and Asset Management expanded its core EBITDA margin to 29.7%, up 260 basis points, even as industry-wide outflows pressured net flows.
Expanding margins in a choppy asset gathering environment is not luck. It signals discipline.

Short-term noise, long-term engine intact
Not everything was perfect. U.S. results were softer due to claims experience and investment spreads.
And market-related charges weighed on reported net income in the quarter. But the engine that matters for dividend durability, core earnings, and cash remittances kept moving forward.
The group generated $6.4 billion in remittances to the parent and returned $5.4 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks in 2025
The bigger picture is clear. Earnings are growing, capital levels remain strong, and future profit embedded in the balance sheet, as reflected in a near $25 billion contractual service margin, continues to build.

A dividend that keeps showing up
MFC just lifted its quarterly dividend by 10.2% to 48 cents per share. The yield now sits around 3.88%, comfortably ahead of the sector’s 3.18%.
And this is the 13th straight year of increases. In financials, that kind of consistency earns respect.
Even better, the forward payout ratio is just 38.84%. There is breathing room here. Earnings more than cover the dividend, leaving space for reinvestment, buybacks, and future hikes.
This is income you can build around, not income you have to worry about.
Action: If you’re in search of reliable growth and a yield edge over the sector, MFC is one of those stocks you can feel good about accumulating steadily rather than time perfectly. |

Where the pressure could squeeze
There’s no denying that insurance is still a leveraged business. It’s beholden to markets and interest rates.
If investment spreads compress further or equity markets stumble, earnings can feel it quickly. The U.S. segment has already shown how claims experience and spread pressure can dent results.
Global WAM is another swing factor. Net outflows in 2025 are a reminder that asset managers live and die by flows. If redemptions persist, fee income momentum could soften.
This is a diversified platform, but it is not immune to macro shocks.

A steady compounder with global torque
With everything said, what we’re left with is a stock that shows us exactly what disciplined financial compounding looks like.
Manulife Financial is generating record core earnings, expanding margins in asset management, and building future profit through double-digit growth in new business value.
Asia is accelerating. Capital levels are strong. The dividend is rising, with room to grow further.
You are not betting on a single rate move or one hot quarter. You are backing a diversified global platform with embedded earnings power and a management team that is allocating capital with intent.

That’s all for today’s edition of the Dividend Brief.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any feedback or dividend stocks you want me to take a look at, just reply to this email!
—Noah Zelvis
DividendBrief.com


