| Over a week ago | ||||
Coming this October, the… Coming this October, the Manulife COVID-19 Pandemic Travel Plan will be available to Canadians travelling in Canada and internationally, including to countries with a Level 3 Travel Advisory. The policy will provide Emergency Medical coverage, including specific additional coverage for COVID-19 and related conditions. It will also include added Trip Interruption benefits in the event of quarantine. The Manulife COVID-19 Pandemic Travel Plan will be available to Canadians through Manulife's distribution channels including travel agents, brokers, advisors, sponsors, and for direct purchase through Manulife CoverMe. | ||||
| Over a month ago | ||||
Amazon (AMZN) and John… Amazon (AMZN) and John Hancock, the U.S. division of Toronto-based Manulife (MFC), announced a strategic collaboration to provide engaging tools and resources to help John Hancock life insurance customers improve their individual health. The companies said in a release, "This effort builds on John Hancock's longstanding commitment to help Americans live longer, healthier lives, while providing the peace of mind that comes with owning a life insurance policy. John Hancock is the first life insurer to integrate with Amazon Halo, as part of Amazon's latest venture into the health and wellness space. John Hancock, combined with Amazon's innovative new technology, will help life insurance customers make connections between their fitness, sleep and other lifestyle habits to better understand their overall health through the John Hancock Vitality Program. Starting this fall, all John Hancock Vitality customers will be able to link the Amazon Halo Band to the program to earn Vitality Points for the small, everyday steps they take to try to live a longer, healthier life. Additionally, Amazon Halo Band will be the featured complimentary wearable for eligible John Hancock Vitality members, including three years of Halo membership, when Halo becomes available to the general public. Since the launch of John Hancock Vitality in 2015, the company has continuously made enhancements to the program to better meet customers' changing needs and expectations across physical activity, nutrition, mental health and more. This is the latest step in helping customers understand how their daily choices can help address their overall well-being. The Amazon Halo service is anchored by a mobile app which provides insights into traditional metrics as well as new-to-world tools and features to enable customers to build healthier habits. The accompanying Amazon Halo Band is a wearable health and wellness device that quietly measures your activity, heart rate, sleep, and tone of voice to provide insights into your individual health within the Halo app. John Hancock Vitality customers can sync the Halo Band with their Vitality account to earn points, including: Activity--Amazon Halo measures activity based on a combination of motion and heart rate. Informed by global physical activity guidelines and the latest medical research, Halo scores activity based on the intensity and duration of movement. John Hancock customers will be able to earn Vitality Points using Halo for physical activity by meeting step count or target heart rate thresholds. Sleep--Amazon Halo measures time asleep, time awake, and time spent in the various phases of sleep including deep, light, and REM. Each morning Halo members receive an overall score rating their sleep, with a hypnogram showing sleep cycles. John Hancock Vitality customers will be awarded points for a good night's sleep as measured by their Amazon Halo Band. Labs--Amazon Halo Labs are science-backed challenges or experiments that allow Halo members to discover what works for them individually. At launch, Halo will offer more than 100 labs developed by experts from some of the world's leading health and wellness brands and research institutions across activity, sleep, nutrition, and mindfulness, with new labs added regularly. John Hancock Vitality customers can earn Vitality Points for completing Halo Labs. Over time, Amazon and John Hancock, together with Manulife, will explore additional opportunities to expand the program. John Hancock life insurance customers can also earn Amazon gift cards, and for those who reach the highest levels of Vitality engagement, an Amazon Prime membership." | ||||
Credit Suisse analyst… Credit Suisse analyst Mike Rizvanovic raised the firm's price target on Manulife Financial to C$23 from C$21 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. | ||||
"In the face of… "In the face of ongoing uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, our teams across the globe continued to support the evolving needs of our customers, employees, and communities throughout a challenging Q2. We've made meaningful investments over the last few years in Manulife's digital transformation and the strong digital capabilities that we have in place, coupled with the accelerated rollouts of digital tools and platforms, have enabled us to continue to provide quality service to our existing customers and to those seeking to purchase our products," said CEO Roy Gori. "I am confident that Manulife is well positioned to navigate this challenging new environment. Our balance sheet and capital levels remain strong, we continue to make solid progress against our five priorities4 and we delivered solid core earnings of $1.6B, up 5% from the prior year quarter amid a challenging operating environment, which highlights the diversity and resilience of our businesses." | ||||
| Over a quarter ago | ||||
Ceridian (CDAY) announced… Ceridian (CDAY) announced that Linda Mantia has joined its Board of Directors and will serve on its Audit Committee. Mantia was senior EVP, COO of Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC). | ||||
Manulife Financial CEO… Manulife Financial CEO Roy Gori said that an environmen tof lower interest rates for longer is becoming a challenge for the company, which did not anticipate the "significant" drop in long-term rates that has occurred, Reuters' Nichola Saminather reports. "A new era of lower rates for longer is a new headwind we'll have to grapple with," Gori said at the S&P Global Insurance Conference. "When we did our planning for 2020 and 2021, we never really anticipated the significant drop in the longer end of the curve as much as we've actually seen." Reference Link | |
Latest data shows the… Latest data shows the largest indicative borrow rate increases among liquid option names include: Tailored Brands (TLRD) 54.88% +1.58, Prospect Capital (PSEC) 12.33% +0.66, Aurora Cannabis (ACB) 132.81% +0.57, US Global Jets ETF (JETS) 11.17% +0.54, Denbury Resources (DNR) 14.86% +0.28, Kirkland Lake Gold (KL) 0.48% +0.16, Harmony Gold (HMY) 0.50% +0.09, ProShares UltraPro Short Russell 2000 (SRTY) 4.50% +0.08, Manulife Financial (MFC) 0.38% +0.07, and Party City (PRTY) 19.50% +0.06. | |
Manulife and John Hancock… Manulife and John Hancock said in a statement that it will be giving its more than 35,000 employees a "Thank You Day" off on Friday, June 19 this year "in appreciation of all the hard work they've done serving customers and helping people make decisions easier and lives better. In addition, the company will be providing five additional personal days next year to each employee to support wellbeing by encouraging regular time off, and provide the opportunity for employees to take vacations that are meaningful to them which they may not have been able to do in the current environment." | |
Credit Suisse analyst… Credit Suisse analyst Mike Rizvanovic upgraded Manulife Financial to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of C$21, down from C$22. Manulife currently trades at slightly more than 60% of its book value, which is only modestly better than its 55% trough during the Financial Crisis, Rizvanovic tells investors in a research note. The analyst sees a favorable valuation at current share levels and believes the company's capital position is strong. Manulife is better positioned for the current downturn from a risk perspective than it was heading into the Financial Crisis, says Rizvanovic. | |
Canaccord analyst Scott… Canaccord analyst Scott Chan lowered the firm's price target on Manulife Financial to C$22 from C$24 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. |