Mutual life insurance company, Equitable Life of Canada is reporting another strong year of positive net earnings, driven by sales, investment performance, positive impacts from favourable expense ratios and reserve assumption changes.  

Earnings for the company were $153-million in 2020, a return on policyholders’ equity of 16 per cent. Net earnings for the company were up compared to net earnings of $109-million reported at the end of 2019. Premiums and deposits worth $1.7-billion helped the company’s assets under administration reach $6-billion by the end of 2020, up from $5-billion reported at the end of 2019. Dividends to participating policyholders increased 24 per cent over the prior year.  

Broken down, the company’s individual insurance business reported 2020 sales of $149-million, up from $130-million in 2019. Savings and retirement reported sales of $401-million, up from $400-million a year ago. The company says sales in the savings and retirement business were driven largely by segregated fund sales during the year. In group benefits meanwhile, sales totalled $46-million, down compared to 2019 sales figures which reached $48.4-million during the year.   

Equitable life finished 2020 with a Life Insurance Adequacy Test (LICAT) ratio of 166 per cent, up from 155 per cent a year ago.