# How Manulife Financial (MFC) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/mfc
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on MFC alone. It places MFC (Manulife Financial Corporation) against 20+ popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where MFC stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: MFC's full trading record, from September 1999 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** Over the past 6 months, MFC rose 17.4% against 9.1% for the S&P 500 and 11.2% for the Nasdaq 100. Its life insurance peers were far apart over the past 6 months, from CRBG (Corebridge Financial, up 32.2%) to AIG (American International Group, up 5.6%).
- **Stock or market?:** MFC held up far better than its industry: it rose 5.5% over the past 3 months while the life insurance ETF KIE (State Street SPDR S&P Insurance ETF) fell 1.2%. The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Its life insurance peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: CRBG (Corebridge Financial) rose 12.7%, while AFL (Aflac) fell 2.6%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** MFC has run far ahead of the market, rising 44.8% over the past year against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100. The same gap shows up over 3 years (189% against 89.3%). The last two calendar years both went the same way: MFC rose 23.0% in 2025, against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100.
- **Long term:** MFC turned $10,000 into $47,300 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500. MFC's 10-year return of 373% puts it ahead of 79% of the stocks worth at least $300 million with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 321%.
- **In a crash:** Across seven sell-offs, MFC has typically fallen 1.6 times as far as the S&P 500.
- **Diversification:** MFC is more of the same, not a cushion: a correlation of 0.62 with the S&P 500 over 5 years and 0.62 with the total US market, more closely than 93% of stocks worth at least $300 million.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** JXN (Jackson Financial) was ahead of MFC in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (43.3% volatility against 24.0%).
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** VCTR (Victory Capital, asset management) was ahead of MFC in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (35.0% volatility against 24.0%).
  - **Whole market:** Few investments have done better on both counts: only one of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than MFC with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them DXJ (WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund).

## How much would $10,000 in MFC have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in MFC over the past 27 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of MFC over the same span and MFC's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in MFC at the end of September 1999 would have grown to $174,548 by September 2026, more than the $95,018 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of MFC, and WRB finished highest, at $772,563.

## MFC at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- MFC's deepest decline since it began trading in 1999 was 83.8%, from October 2007 to March 2009. It took about 15 years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- MFC is trading within 1% of its all-time high.
- Over 26 full calendar years, MFC's best was 2000, when it returned 152%, and its worst was 2008, when it lost 56.9%. It lost money in ten of those years.

- Type: Stock, Financials (Insurance - Life)
- Trading since: September 24, 1999
- Market value: $74B
- Volatility (5 years): 24.0%; Sharpe ratio: 0.97
- Worst decline ever: −83.8%, from October 31, 2007 to March 9, 2009; back at its high by February 15, 2024

| Period | MFC total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | −0.2% |
| 3 months | +5.5% |
| 6 months | +17.4% |
| year to date | +26.1% |
| 1 year | +44.8% |
| 3 years | +189% |
| 5 years | +177% |
| 10 years | +373% |

## MFC against the whole market

Where MFC ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does MFC rank among all stocks?

This section ranks MFC on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- On return for the risk taken (the Sharpe ratio), MFC ranks in the top 4% of the 2,893 stocks worth at least $300 million.

| Measure | MFC | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +44.8% | 633 of 3,287 (top 20%) |
| 3-year return | +189% | 435 of 3,017 (top 15%) |
| 5-year return | +177% | 374 of 2,893 (top 13%) |
| 10-year return | +373% | 455 of 2,202 (top 21%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 24.0% | 262 of 2,893 (top 10%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.97 | 115 of 2,893 (top 4%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −57.5% | 782 of 2,187 (top 36%) |

### What has beaten MFC on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- One ETF worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than MFC over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is fewer than 1% of the 3,633 screened. Few investments beat it on both counts.
- Among those with at least half MFC's swings, DXJ has the best return for its risk: 26.6% a year at 19.1% volatility, 21% less than MFC's 24.0%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.34 against 0.97 for MFC.

### Is there a better investment than MFC?

The table below lists investments that beat MFC over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among MFC's popular alternatives, JXN was ahead of MFC in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (43.3% volatility against 24.0%).
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, VCTR (asset management) was ahead of MFC in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (35.0% volatility against 24.0%).
- Few investments have done better on both counts: only one of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than MFC with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them DXJ.

The 1 strongest of 1 investments that beat MFC over the past 5 years, out of 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with MFC | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MFC: Manulife Financial Corporation (this page) |  | +22.6% | 24.0% | 0.97 | −57.5% | +373% |  |  |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | International Equity | +26.6% | 19.1% | 1.34 | −39.1% | +428% | 0.28 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Smaller losses in recent crashes |

## MFC against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against MFC, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do MFC's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- None of the 17 popular alternatives earned more than MFC over the past 5 years with smaller price swings, so every higher return on the map came with a bumpier ride.
- 12 of the 17 popular alternatives earned less than MFC over the past 5 years while swinging more, the weaker corner of the map.
- Over the past 5 years, MFC returned 22.6% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (24.0% against 17.1%).

### Has MFC consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares MFC with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- None of the 20 popular alternatives outperformed MFC in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes. The closest was JXN.
- JXN earned more for the risk it took than MFC (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in its worst decline of the past 10 years.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of MFC | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MFC: Manulife Financial Corporation (this page) | +44.8% | +189% | +177% | +373% |  |  | 0.97 |
| JXN: Jackson Financial Inc. | +37.6% | +269% | +472% | — | 2/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 1.03 |
| UNM: Unum Group | +26.4% | +106% | +279% | +256% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 1.06 |
| [AMP](https://easycompare.io/research/amp): Ameriprise Financial, Inc. | +4.5% | +62.6% | +76.8% | +507% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.55 |
| PRI: Primerica, Inc. | +10.4% | +49.9% | +82.5% | +486% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.60 |
| [MET](https://easycompare.io/research/met): MetLife, Inc. | +32.2% | +84.0% | +76.5% | +240% | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.58 |
| CNO: CNO Financial Group, Inc. | +41.1% | +150% | +136% | +342% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.76 |
| CRBG: Corebridge Financial, Inc. | +13.8% | +98.8% | — | — | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | — |
| [BLK](https://easycompare.io/research/blk): BlackRock, Inc. | −0.6% | +96.3% | +41.1% | +313% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.39 |
| [AFL](https://easycompare.io/research/afl): Aflac Incorporated | +12.9% | +65.2% | +139% | +335% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.95 |
| [SLF](https://easycompare.io/research/slf): Sun Life Financial Inc. | +35.5% | +96.3% | +74.1% | +255% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.67 |
| [AIG](https://easycompare.io/research/aig): American International Group, Inc. | +8.0% | +47.1% | +54.1% | +75.5% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.47 |
| [RY](https://easycompare.io/research/ry): Royal Bank of Canada | +39.2% | +173% | +122% | +352% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.97 |
| AEG: Aegon Ltd. | +19.0% | +113% | +112% | +224% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.65 |
| PFG: Principal Financial Group, Inc. | +41.4% | +76.3% | +84.6% | +196% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.60 |
| GL: Globe Life Inc. | +26.3% | +58.0% | +79.7% | +188% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.56 |
| [PRU](https://easycompare.io/research/pru): Prudential Financial, Inc. | +19.6% | +47.5% | +29.0% | +117% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.33 |
| LNC: Lincoln National Corporation | +6.2% | +111% | −32.1% | +20.1% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.04 |
| [BAM](https://easycompare.io/research/bam): Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. | −12.5% | +67.9% | — | — | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | — |
| BHF: Brighthouse Financial, Inc. | +2.2% | +3.1% | −8.1% | — | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.17 |
| FG: F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. | −29.0% | −25.8% | — | — | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | — |

### How did MFC do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 2000, along with where MFC ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- MFC finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 15 of its 26 full calendar years, and ahead of it in each of the last four.
- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, MFC finished in the top quarter in eight of 26 years and in the bottom quarter in five. In 2025, it ranked 7 of 21.
- Among its popular alternatives, BLK came out ahead of MFC most often, in 16 of the 26 years both traded.

| Year | MFC | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +22.9% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +45.2% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +31.0% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −1.3% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +12.1% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | −7.1% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +49.2% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −29.3% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +20.9% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +23.6% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How MFC has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were MFC's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of MFC's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: MFC fell 24.8% from November 1999 to February 2000, while the S&P 500 slipped only 3.4%.
- The slowest recovery came after MFC fell 83.8% from October 2007 to March 2009; it did not regain that peak until February 2024, 15 years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −83.8% | October 31, 2007 | March 9, 2009 | February 15, 2024 | −54.7% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −42.9% | August 7, 2001 | October 7, 2002 | August 11, 2003 | −33.3% | dot-com bust |
| −24.8% | November 15, 1999 | February 22, 2000 | March 23, 2000 | −3.4% |  |
| −22.3% | December 28, 2000 | February 21, 2001 | August 7, 2001 | −6.1% | dot-com bust |
| −16.8% | April 2, 2025 | April 8, 2025 | June 5, 2025 | −12.0% |  |

### How did MFC do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far MFC, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- MFC fell further than the S&P 500 in seven of the ten crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2008 financial crisis, when MFC fell 83.8% and the S&P 500 fell 55.2%.
- Among its popular alternatives, RY held up best, falling less than MFC in eight of the ten crashes they both traded through.

| Crash | Dates | MFC fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | −42.9% | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −83.8% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | 0.0% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −35.3% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −35.4% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −2.6% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −25.9% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −55.1% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −27.1% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −6.1% | −3.4% |

### How closely does MFC move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- RY took just 88% of the S&P 500's losses, against 110% for MFC, while still keeping 97% of its gains.
- Over the past 10 years, MFC captured 110% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 110% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 1.10. It amplified the market's moves in both directions.
- Four of the 15 popular alternatives had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than MFC's 1.00, led by AFL, RY and PRI.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MFC: Manulife Financial Corporation (this page) | 110% | 110% | 1.10 |
| UNM: Unum Group | 88.0% | 90.0% | 0.96 |
| [AMP](https://easycompare.io/research/amp): Ameriprise Financial, Inc. | 141% | 152% | 1.41 |
| PRI: Primerica, Inc. | 121% | 116% | 1.15 |
| [MET](https://easycompare.io/research/met): MetLife, Inc. | 91.0% | 97.0% | 1.03 |
| CNO: CNO Financial Group, Inc. | 103% | 102% | 1.09 |
| [BLK](https://easycompare.io/research/blk): BlackRock, Inc. | 127% | 157% | 1.30 |
| [AFL](https://easycompare.io/research/afl): Aflac Incorporated | 83.0% | 71.0% | 0.79 |
| [SLF](https://easycompare.io/research/slf): Sun Life Financial Inc. | 87.0% | 85.0% | 0.96 |
| [AIG](https://easycompare.io/research/aig): American International Group, Inc. | 64.0% | 93.0% | 0.91 |
| [RY](https://easycompare.io/research/ry): Royal Bank of Canada | 97.0% | 88.0% | 0.88 |
| AEG: Aegon Ltd. | 103% | 114% | 1.07 |
| PFG: Principal Financial Group, Inc. | 103% | 124% | 1.22 |
| GL: Globe Life Inc. | 72.0% | 72.0% | 0.79 |
| [PRU](https://easycompare.io/research/pru): Prudential Financial, Inc. | 102% | 146% | 1.25 |
| LNC: Lincoln National Corporation | 119% | 211% | 1.67 |

### What diversifies MFC?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in MFC into GLD would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 18% over the past 5 years for a small cut in its annual return (+22.9% for MFC alone, +22.6% for the mix).
- Among large ETFs, DXJ, SMH and GLD have moved largely independently of MFC over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.39 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- MCK made money in six of the ten calendar years in which MFC lost money.

| Investment | Correlation with MFC | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in MFC's 10 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.28 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 4 of 10 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.39 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 4 of 10 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.05 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 4 of 10 |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | 0.48 | +136% | 20.8% | 0.93 | 1 of 10 |
| [XLE](https://easycompare.io/research/xle): State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF | 0.30 | +177% | 25.5% | 0.93 | 3 of 10 |
| EWT: iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF | 0.40 | +153% | 24.2% | 0.89 | 4 of 10 |
| AMLP: Alerian MLP ETF | 0.43 | +111% | 18.9% | 0.89 | 3 of 10 |
| PTLC: Pacer Trendpilot US Large Cap ETF | 0.42 | +57.4% | 11.8% | 0.83 | 1 of 10 |

## Common questions

### What was MFC's worst drawdown?

MFC's deepest decline since it began trading in 1999 was 83.8%, from October 2007 to March 2009. It took about 15 years from the low to climb back to its old high.

### What were MFC's best and worst years?

Over 26 full calendar years, MFC's best year was 2000, when it returned 152%. Its worst was 2008, with a return of -56.9%.

### Is there a better investment than MFC?

Among MFC's popular alternatives, JXN was ahead of MFC in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (43.3% volatility against 24.0%). Looking beyond its popular alternatives, VCTR (asset management) was ahead of MFC in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (35.0% volatility against 24.0%).

### Is MFC more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. MFC's volatility over the past 5 years was 24.0%, 1.4 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, MFC's return lands within 24.0% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is MFC's Sharpe ratio?

MFC's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.97, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so MFC earned more for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is MFC with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, MFC's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.62 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They often move together: some diversification next to an index fund, but not a cushion. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against MFC instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a MFC holding.

### What are the best alternatives to MFC?

None of the 20 popular alternatives we compared outperformed MFC in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, which says more about MFC's strength than about its alternatives.

### Did MFC outperform the S&P 500?

MFC finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 15 of 26 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +23.0%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did MFC do in stock market crashes?

MFC fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in three of the ten major crashes it has traded through, and further in seven. The clearest case was the 2008 financial crisis, when MFC fell 83.8% and the S&P 500 fell 55.2%.

### What diversifies MFC?

These had a low correlation with MFC over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, DXJ (correlation 0.28), SMH (correlation 0.39) and GLD (correlation 0.05); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.27), CLS (correlation 0.31) and FIX (correlation 0.28). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

- [Ameriprise Financial (AMP) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/amp)
- [MetLife (MET) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/met)
- [BlackRock (BLK) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/blk)
- [Aflac (AFL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/afl)
- [Sun Life Financial (SLF) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/slf)
- [American International Group (AIG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/aig)
- [Royal Bank of Canada (RY) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/ry)
- [Prudential Financial (PRU) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/pru)
- [Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/bam)
- [Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/schd)
- [NVIDIA (NVDA) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda)
- [Apple (AAPL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/aapl)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/mfc
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against MFC live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=MFC&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research