Manulife Reports Strong Q1 2026 Results: Core Earnings Up 8% with Double-Digit Growth in Key Metrics

Manulife Financial Corporation, a major insurance and financial services company trading on multiple stock exchanges (TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC, SEHK: 945), has shared its financial results for the first three months of 2026, according to their press release dated May 13, 2026.

What Did Manulife Achieve?

Think of Manulife like a big piggy bank that helps people save money and protects them when something bad happens. In the first quarter of 2026 (January to March), they did quite well. Here are the highlights explained simply:

Money They Made (Earnings)

Core earnings: They made $1.8 billion, which is 8% more than the same time last year. Think of core earnings as the regular money they make from their normal business.
Net income: This is the actual profit after everything is counted. They made $1.1 billion, which is $700 million more than last year – a huge jump!
Earnings per share (EPS): This measures how much profit each share of their stock made. Regular EPS was $0.65 (up 178% from last year), and core EPS was $1.06 (up 11%).

How Well They’re Using Their Money

Core ROE (Return on Equity): This was 16.5%, meaning for every $100 they have, they made $16.50 in profit. This is better than the 15.6% from last year.
LICAT ratio: This is like a safety score showing they have enough money saved up. Their score was 136%, which means they have 36% more money than required by regulations.

New Business Growth

APE sales: These are new insurance policies they sold, up 7% from last year.
New business CSM: This represents the future profit they’ll make from new policies sold this quarter – up 16%!
Global WAM net flows: In their investment management business, they had $4.4 billion flowing out, compared to $500 million flowing in last year. This means more people took money out than put money in.

How Different Parts of the Business Performed

Manulife operates in different regions around the world. Here’s how each area did:

Asia – The Star Performer

Asia was the strongest region, with core earnings jumping 22% to $598 million (in US dollars). They sold more insurance policies (up 11%) and their future profits from new business increased 15%. According to CEO Phil Witherington, Asia had “robust contributions from key markets in the region.” The company even won recognition as “Asia’s Best Insurance Provider for Wealth Management” at the 2026 Euromoney Private Banking Awards.

Canada – Mixed Results

Canada’s core earnings actually decreased 6% to $352 million. This was mainly because their Group Insurance business (insurance for employees through their workplace) had more people filing claims, especially for long-term disability. However, they did sell more individual life insurance policies.

United States – Improved Performance

The U.S. made a profit of $101 million this quarter, much better than losing $397 million in the same quarter last year. They sold 29% more insurance policies, with people particularly interested in products that help them save and protect their wealth.

Global Wealth and Asset Management – Steady

This division, which manages people’s investments, saw core earnings increase slightly by 2% to $448 million. They managed an average of $1,118 billion in assets (up 11% from last year). However, they experienced outflows, meaning more money left than came in, totaling $4.4 billion.

What Manulife Is Doing to Grow

Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Manulife is investing heavily in AI – computer programs that can think and learn. They’re using AI to:

Help insurance agents get information faster in Vietnam and Japan
Process insurance applications quicker in the U.S. – turning tasks that took days into minutes
Handle health insurance claims faster in Canada
Help salespeople have better conversations with financial advisors, leading to 40% more meaningful interactions

The company says their developers are 30% more productive because of these AI tools.

Health and Wellness Partnerships

Manulife is becoming more than just an insurance company. They’re partnering with health companies to help people live longer, healthier lives:

In Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines, they’re offering a special blood test (Shield MCD test) that can detect 10 different types of cancer early – making them the first insurer in Asia to offer this
In Canada, they partnered with Osara Health to help people with cancer get support during treatment and recovery

Growing Through Acquisitions

Manulife completed the purchase of Schroders Indonesia, an investment management company with $3.5 billion in assets. This makes Manulife the largest asset manager in Indonesia. They also partnered with Legal & General (L&G) to expand their reach in Europe.

Financial Strength and Shareholder Returns

Manulife’s book value per share (what each share is worth based on the company’s assets) reached $26.30, which the company says is an all-time high. They returned $1.2 billion to shareholders through dividends (regular payments to stock owners) and share buybacks (buying back their own stock).

What the Leadership Said

CEO Phil Witherington explained: “We delivered a solid first quarter, executing our strategy and demonstrating the strength of our diversified portfolio. We generated double-digit growth in core EPS, and new business momentum continued to build.”

CFO Colin Simpson added: “Our balance sheet and financial performance demonstrated resilience during a volatile quarter. Excess capital remained strong, our financial leverage ratio improved, and book value per common share increased to an all-time high.”

Looking at the Numbers Side by Side

Comparing Q1 2026 to Q1 2025:

Net income attributed to shareholders: $1.147 billion (up 149% from $485 million)
Core earnings: $1.836 billion (up 8% from $1.767 billion)
Core EPS: $1.06 (up 11% from $0.99)
Book value per common share: $26.30 (up 2% from $25.88)
APE sales: $2.821 billion (up 7% from $2.689 billion)

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a large insurance and financial services company based in Toronto, Canada. They help people with life insurance, investment management, and retirement planning across Asia, Canada, and the United States. The company trades on multiple stock exchanges including Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE), Philippines (PSE), and Hong Kong (SEHK).

According to this press release, Manulife will host a conference call on May 14, 2026, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss these results in more detail with investors and analysts.

Source Note:

This article is based on the company’s official press release and disclosures filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange’s Electronic Disclosure Generation Technology (PSE EDGE) system. For the complete and official version of the announcement, readers may visit the PSE EDGE website and search for the company’s filing directly.