Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian insurers with excess capital may consider takeovers in the U.S., or joint ventures in India or China, said David Skurka, managing director and head of the financial institutions group for Scotia Capital.

“There is access to capital here, a strong dollar, strong management teams and people looking for growth,” Skurka said in an interview following an insurance conference in Ottawa.

Insurers in Canada could approach foreign companies shedding assets, Skurka said. The Canadian dollar has gained more than 10 percent against the U.S. currency this year, strengthening the insurers’ buying power.

“There are a lot of companies looking at shedding things that are called the bulls-eye, if you will, that are just outside of the core of their business,” Skurka said. Scotia Capital is a unit of Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s No. 3 bank.

Sun Life Financial Inc., Canada’s third-largest insurer, yesterday completed the purchase of Lincoln National Corp.’s U.K. insurance business for 195 million pounds ($309 million). Philadelphia-based Lincoln has posted three straight quarterly losses. Sun Life has called India the biggest “medium- to long- term opportunity for growth”, and operates a joint venture there with Aditya Birla Group.

Manulife Financial Corp. Chief Executive Officer Donald Guloien said this week that takeover opportunities “are as attractive as we’ve ever seen in our history,” and cited Asia, North America and Europe as possible geographies.

Guloien, who runs North America’s largest insurer by market value, said foreign ownership restrictions are changing in India and is looking at potential opportunities there. He said previously that China, where the Toronto-based insurer has a venture with Sinochem Group, could be as big for Manulife as the U.S. some day.

Insurers may also look to the U.S. for growth, Skurka said. Canada’s three largest insurers have asset-management and insurance operations they’ve purchased through acquisitions.

“The U.S. market is an obvious place, but you need scale,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Quinn in Ottawa at gquinn1@bloomberg.net; Sean B. Pasternak in Toronto at spasternak@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 2, 2009 12:44 EDT