Manulife Shorted About C$5 Billion of Equity Futures
This article is for subscribers only.
Manulife Financial Corp., Canada’s largest insurer, shorted about C$5 billion ($5 billion) of equity futures contracts between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 to reduce potential losses from stocks.
The company also increased its hedging program by adding C$800 million of “guaranteed value” in variable annuities, and sold C$200 million of equities backing insurance liabilities, the Toronto-based insurer said today in a statement.