Despite low-interest rates and volatile equity markets, Equitable Life of Canada realized record earnings of $44.7 million, surpassing the previous high of $32.0 million in 2010.
As a result, return on policyholders’ equity increased considerably to 13.5% in 2012.
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Some of the factors that contributed to this strong performance include diligent expense management, positive group claims ratios and favourable performance of equity markets in the latter half of 2012, which helped offset the low interest rate environment and lower-than-expected sales in the Individual and savings and retirement lines of business.
The insurer also had a strong year for growth in 2012 on the back of premiums and deposits reaching $606.1 million and the assets under administration which grew to $2.93 billion, both all-time highs.
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On the sales front, it was a breakout year for the Group line of business, achieving record sales of $53.3 million, eclipsing its 2011 sales by 83.8%. Individual sales were down 7.4% to $38.8 million in 2012, as persistently low interest rates led to unprecedented product and pricing changes in the industry. Similarly, savings and retirement sales fell 4.6% to $219.6 million as the current economic environment led to weak segregated funds sales.