Listed insurers post mixed financial results in 'challenging' 2020

MANILA, Philippines — The coronavirus pandemic hit the balance sheets of two big insurance companies in different ways.

In a disclosure to the local bourse on Thursday, Sun Life Financial Inc. reported a net income of $2.4 billion in 2020, down 8.17% year-on-year. Underlying net income, on the other hand, went up 5.1% on-year to $3.2 billion.

The balance sheet was better for Manulife Financial Corp., which reported in a separate regulatory filing a bottomline of $5.9 billion, up 4.8% annually.

Despite the vaying impact of the health crisis on their balance sheets, both Sun Life and Manulife agreed that 2020 was a turbulent year for insurers. "2020 challenged us in ways we never imagined," Dean Connor, outgoing Sun Life president and chief executive, said.    

"2020 was an incredibly challenging year in so many ways," Manulife President and CEO Roy Gori, for his part, said.

Breaking down Sun Life's financial results, insurance sales inched down 0.7% year-on-year for all of last year to $3.5 billion, while earnings from its wealth management services amounted to $220.9 billion, growing 38.9% annually. 

In Canada, Sun Life's home market, both insurance sales and wealth sales fell 18% year-on-year in the fourth quarter. "In 2020, we continued to make strides towards our ambition to be one of the best insurance and asset management companies in the  world and build our foundation for future growth," Kevin Strain, incoming Sun Life president and chief executive, said.

Manulife, meanwhile, reported a 3% annual decline in core general expenses that helped cushion the impact of an 8.1% drop in core earnings.

"We continued to execute against our strategic priorities throughout 2020, including deploying capital to expand our distribution footprint in Asia. Our insurance agency force grew by 21% and now exceeds 115,000 agents," Gori said.

On Thursday, shares in Manulife ended flat at P850 each, while that in Sun Life inched down to P2,100 each ahead of a long weekend. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral