S&P affirms Manulife

Standard & Poor's said it affirmed its A- long-term counterparty credit rating on Manulife Financial Corp.

At the same time, S&P said it affirmed its AA- long-term counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Manulife Financial's core and guaranteed insurance operating subsidiaries. The insurance operating companies affected by this action include: the Manufacturers Life Insurance Co.; John Hancock Life Insurance Co.; John Hancock Life & Health Insurance Co.; John Hancock Life Insurance Co. of New York; and Manulife (International) Ltd.

S&P said it also affirmed its A+/A-1 counterparty credit rating on Manulife Bank of Canada, which the agency considers to be strategically important to Manulife. The outlook on all of these companies is stable.

"We affirmed the ratings on Manulife Financial and its insurance operating companies and Manulife Bank because, notwithstanding the net losses reported earlier [Thursday], Manulife maintains very robust capitalization and we expect the group to maintain strong core earnings even though net income may display ongoing volatility due to the fair-value accounting framework in Canada," said S&P credit analyst Robert A. Hafner in a news release.

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