GWO complements your bank stocks

Article Excerpt

We continue to recommend that all investors aim to own two or more of Canada’s big five banks, including Bank of Nova Scotia, our #1 safety-conscious pick for 2014. But we also feel that conservative investors should diversify their Finance-sector holdings with stocks like Great-West Lifeco. GREAT-WEST LIFECO $31.90 (Toronto symbol GWO; Shares outstanding: 998.9 million; Market cap: $32.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 3.9%; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s largest insurance company. It also offers mutual funds and wealth management. Power Financial owns 67.0% of Great-West. Great-West’s earnings per share rose 12.7% in the three months ended June 30, 2014, to $0.62 from $0.55 a year earlier. The company ended the quarter with $804.6 billion of assets under administration. Earnings at the Canadian division (which supplies 49% of the total) rose 8.1%, as higher sales of personal insurance offset lower demand for group policies. The value of the assets this business administers also rose, which increased its wealth management fee…