Great-West Lifeco sees Q4 earnings rise to $740M

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Great-West Lifeco Inc. says its fourth-quarter net earnings were $740 million, up from $452 million during the same quarter last year.

Net earnings per common share were 79 cents, up from 48 cents, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2023.

However, though net earnings from continuing operations were also up year over year, they were down for the company’s Canada segment, at $166 million, down from $352 million in 2022.

The company says that stronger base earnings in Canada were partially offset by individual insurance mortalities and favourable 2022 tax impacts that weren’t repeated in 2023.

Base earnings in Canada for Q4 were $301 million, up 16% from $260 million in the same quarter the previous year.

Great-West Lifeco’s insurance and annuities sales in Canada for the fourth quarter were $175 million, down by $103 million compared to the same quarter last year, primarily from lower individual and single-premium group annuities sales, the management’s discussion and analysis said.

Individual wealth management sales increased by $324 million to $2.87 billion during the same period, driven by higher proprietary and third-party mutual fund sales, the analysis said, and reflecting the addition of Investment Planning Counsel (in November) and Value Partners (in September).

“With the acquisitions of Value Partners and IPC, Canada Life is accelerating its vision to establish a leadership position in the Canadian independent advisor wealth market in Canada with more than 4,000 advisor relationships and $102 billion in assets under administration,” the management’s discussion and analysis said.

As of Dec. 31, the company had $1.1 trillion in assets under management, up from $1.0 trillion the previous year. The figure includes assets held for sale related to the discontinued operations of Putnam Investments, which closed in early 2024.

Great-West also noted a leadership transition as of Friday, with Jon Nielsen becoming chief financial officer and Fabrice Morin becoming president and chief operating officer, Canada.

The company announced a 7% increase to its dividend, at 55.5 cents per share.