Whole Life Insurance Companies in Canada
If you’ve seen some of our other content you know we specialize in Life Insurance and Investments for Business owners and high-income professionals.
Specifically, we utilize strategies that involve leveraging participating whole life policies such as the Infinite Banking Concept, or the Immediate Financing Arrangement.
Today we’re going to be talking about some companies that provide these types of insurance policies in Canada and discuss the histories and some statistics surrounding each one.
There are many whole life providers, and we technically have contracts to work with all of them, but not all whole life policies are created equal.
We usually work with the same 3-5 companies who have the best policies for our client’s needs this includes Sun Life, Manulife, Canada Life, and Equitable Life.
Sun Life Financial
Sun Life Financial has been in operation for over 150 years. The company was founded in 1865 in Montreal, Quebec, and was initially known as the Sun Insurance Company.
At the time of its inception, the company offered fire, marine, and life insurance. The company grew rapidly over the years, expanding its product offerings and entering new markets.
Today, Sun Life Financial is a global organization with operations in North America, Asia, Europe, and other regions.
Sun Life’s Participating Whole Life Insurance policies provide lifelong coverage and also offer the opportunity to earn dividends.
Dividends are paid to policyholders when the company's financial results exceed certain thresholds, these financial results are based on the performance of the assets in the company's Participating Account.
The Participating Account is managed by a team of investment professionals who have extensive experience in managing insurance company assets.
Sun Life’s Participating Account's investment portfolio is diversified across a range of asset classes, including fixed income securities, equities, and alternative investments. As of 2020 the Participating account had $27.4 Billion in total assets.
Due to this Sun Life has consistently been paying dividends to Participating Whole Life Insurance policyholders for over 150 years.
In 2020, Sun Life Financial paid out $1.3 billion in dividends to Participating Whole Life Insurance policyholders.
The policyholder can choose to receive the dividends as cash payments, use them to reduce premiums, or reinvest them in the policy to increase the death benefit or cash value.
Their Participating Whole Life Insurance policies have an average dividend scale of 6.15% over the past 10 years.
Additionally, the policies have a guaranteed cash value that grows over time, providing an additional source of savings and financial security for the policyholder.
Manulife
Manulife has been providing financial protection to individuals and families through Insurance products for over 130 years.
The company was founded in 1887 in Toronto, Ontario, by Canada’s first Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald and was initially known as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company.
In its early years, Manulife focused primarily on providing life insurance to Canadian families.
Today, Manulife offers a range of financial products and services, including life insurance, health insurance, retirement planning, and investment management.
One of Manulife's most popular life insurance products is their Participating Whole Life Insurance policies.
As with Sun Life these policies provide lifelong coverage and also offer the opportunity to earn dividends, and these dividends are based on the company's participating account.
The Participating Account is a pool of funds that is invested by Manulife to produce returns.
It is managed by a team of investment professionals who employ a disciplined investment strategy designed to generate consistent, long-term returns.
Manulife has been paying dividends to Participating Whole Life Insurance policyholders for over 100 years
As of December 31st, 2020 their Participating Account had $40.3 billion worth of assets, while In 2020, Manulife paid out over $1.7 billion in dividends to Participating Whole Life Insurance policyholders.
Manulife’s Participating Whole Life Insurance policies have an average dividend scale of 6.5% over the past 10 years.
Additionally, the policies offer policyholders the potential for tax-deferred growth of cash values and dividends.
Canada Life
Canada Life is one of Canada's largest life insurance companies, with a history that dates back to 1847.
The company was originally founded as The Canada Life Assurance Company, and its first policy was issued on January 1, 1848.
At the time, life insurance was a relatively new concept, and Canada Life played a significant role in popularizing it in Canada.
Over the years, the company has grown and evolved. Today, Canada Life is a subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco, one of Canada's largest financial services companies.
Although the dividends of Canada Life's Participating Whole Life Insurance policies are not guaranteed and can fluctuate from year to year based on the performance of the Participating Account.
As is the case with all the companies we’re talking about today.
Canada Life has a long history of paying dividends to policyholders, with a track record that spans over 170 years.
Canada Life's Participating Account is invested across a range of asset classes, including fixed income securities, equities, and real estate, and as of December 31st, 2020 had $42.4 billion worth of total assets.
In 2020, Canada Life paid out over $1.5 billion in dividends to Participating Whole Life Insurance policyholders.
These participating whole life policies also provide a guaranteed death benefit, which means that the policyholder's beneficiaries will receive a lump sum payment upon the policyholder's death.
Additionally, the company's Participating Whole Life Insurance policies can be customized to meet the unique needs of the policyholder, with options such as paid-up additions, which allow the policyholder to purchase additional coverage without the need for additional medical underwriting.
Equitable Life
Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada was founded in 1920, with the goal of providing Canadians with financial protection and security.
The company has a rich history of innovation in the life insurance industry, with several firsts to its name.
For example, Equitable Life was the first Canadian company to offer group life insurance and the first to offer universal life insurance.
Over the years, the company has grown and expanded its product offerings to include a range of financial services such as disability insurance, critical illness insurance, and group benefits.
Today, Equitable Life is one of Canada's largest mutual life insurance companies, owned by its policyholders rather than by shareholders.
Equitable Life's Participating Whole Life Insurance policies have a track record of paying dividends to policy holders spanning over 90 years.
As of December 31, 2020, the Participating Account had $1.9 billion worth of total assets and in 2020, Equitable Life paid out $57.3 million in dividends to Participating Whole Life Insurance policyholders.
Equitable Life's Participating Whole Life Insurance policies also offer a range of riders, such as accidental death benefit, child term rider, and waiver of premium, to enhance the policyholder's coverage.
Next Steps:
We are experts at structuring whole life insurance plans for Canadian families and Canadian incorporated business owners.
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