These two benefit from a narrower focus

Article Excerpt

These two financial services providers continue to benefit from their recent plans to better focus on their core businesses. We still like both of these high-quality stocks, but prefer IGM for your new buying. GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $52 is a hold. The insurer (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; shares outstanding: 932.1 million; Market cap: $48.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest life insurer, after Manulife Financial. It also offers pension and wealth management services. Power Corp. (Toronto symbol POW) owns 68.2% of the firm. The company continues to benefit from recent acquisitions that increase its focus on wealth management and retirement services. Those include its April 2022 purchase of the full-service retirement business of U.S.-based Prudential Financial Inc. (New York symbol PRU) for $4.35 billion. As well, in November 2023, the company paid $575 million to IGM (see right) for Investment Planning Counsel, which provides wealth management and planning services. In the…