Industrial Alliance Ends 2012 On a Strong Note

Net income to common shareholders sets new record

2012 highlights:

• Net income of $312 million is all-time high
• Diluted EPS of $3.44, adjusted for IATS
• Return on shareholders' equity of 12.6%
• Book value per share up 8%
• Solvency ratio stands at 230% at January 1, 2013
• Assets under management and administration grow 14% year over year

QUEBEC CITY, Feb. 15, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - For the year ended December 31, 2012, Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. (TSX: IAG) reports net income of $311.9 million versus $103.3 million a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share, adjusted for the dilutive impact of the Company's innovative Tier 1 debt instruments (IATS), amounted to $3.44 versus $1.19 a year earlier. Return on common shareholders' equity was 12.6%.

Excluding the gain on the sale of the U.S. annuity business in the third quarter and year-end assumption changes, net income from continuing operations was $295.7 million compared with $255.6 million in 2011, an increase of 16%. Diluted earnings per share, adjusted for the IATS, amounted to $3.26 in 2012 compared with $2.95 a year earlier.

The Company's book value continues to grow. In 2012, it rose 8% over the previous year to $28.32 per common share.

At December 31, 2012, the solvency ratio stood at 217%, up from 211% at the end of the third quarter. At January 1, 2013, the solvency ratio is 230% reflecting recent amendments to the regulatory capital formula.

"The past year was extremely gratifying," commented Yvon Charest, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We delivered solid growth in net income, with notable increases coming from our retail insurance operations in both Canada and the U.S., as well as from our wealth management operations. Among our niche businesses, Excellence, Special Market Solutions and IA Auto and Home all delivered outstanding results."

"In terms of business growth, strong momentum continues across the organization," added Mr. Charest. "I want to highlight in particular our retail insurance operations that delivered sales growth of 16% in 2012, even with the implementation of two price increases during the year in Canada. As well, the contribution from our US operations continues to grow - 18% of total life sales came from the US in 2012 versus 15% in 2011.

"In 2012 we successfully executed on a number of action items aimed at securing our core earnings power and our capital," continued Mr. Charest. "In June we announced our intention to bring the cost of writing new retail insurance business down to 25% of sales - this was done by year-end. In August, following a strategic review of our businesses, we announced the sale of a block of US annuities, which provided a gain as well as significant capital relief. Over the course of the year, we generated $120 million through management actions to strengthen our interest rate assumption by 20 basis points, thus protecting our earnings power."

"Today, our capital position is very strong," concluded Mr. Charest. "With a solvency ratio of 230%, we have the room to absorb significant macroeconomic shocks, as well as the flexibility to consider growth opportunities."

¹ Reflects issue of preferred shares in June 2012.
² Excludes the dilutive impact of the innovative Tier 1 debt instruments (IATS).
³ Annualized for the quarter. Trailing twelve months for the year.
⁴ Adjusted retroactive to January 1, 2011 to reflect an increase of $58.6 million in retained earnings.

Fourth Quarter Highlights
Profitability - Industrial Alliance ended the fourth quarter of 2012 with net income available to common shareholders of $73.8 million, after strengthening reserves by $19.9 million. Diluted earnings per share, adjusted for the dilutive impact of the Company's innovative Tier 1 debt instruments, amounted to $0.81. The annualized return on common shareholders' equity was 11.6%.

Excluding the impact of reserve strengthening, diluted and adjusted earnings per share were $1.03 compared with $0.78 for the same period a year ago, representing a year-over-year increase of $0.25 per share. The annualized return on common shareholders' equity was 14.6%.

The key elements that had an impact on profitability follow. All figures are after taxes unless otherwise indicated.

Year-end review of assumptions - Actuarial reserves were strengthened by a net amount of $19.9 million or $0.22 per share, primarily for interest rate and lapse assumptions. Reserve strengthening for the full year, including $1.3 million for the US operations in the third quarter, totalled $21.2 million or $0.23 per share.

Market-related experience - The stock market improvement contributed a gain of $3.6 million or $0.04 per share, primarily attributed to the dynamic hedging program.

Policyholder experience - The Individual Insurance sector experienced a gain of $5.3 million or $0.06 per share mainly attributed to mortality and morbidity, offset by unfavourable lapse in the quarter. Group Insurance posted a loss of $3.5 million or $0.04 per share primarily related to unfavourable group life and health experience; long-term disability experience was in line with expectations. Unfavourable annuitant longevity and other items resulted in a loss of $1.6 million or $0.02 per share.

Strain - In the Individual Insurance sector, the strain-to-new business ratio was 22%, which is better than the year-end target of 25% provided by the Company at its Investor Day in June. The difference is primarily explained by a more favourable sales mix in the fourth quarter (a higher proportion of excess premiums that are less strain intensive) as well as the implementation of a new reinsurance agreement. Management estimates that strain improvement, offset by the higher Individual Insurance sales volume in the fourth quarter, added $4.7 million or $0.05 per share to earnings.

The improvement in the strain-to-new business ratio in 2012 - from 56% in the first quarter to below 25% in the fourth quarter - reflects two price increases during the year in the Individual Insurance sector. Management expects that strain should represent approximately 25% of Individual Insurance sales in 2013.

Income on capital - Total income on capital was $31.3 million pre-tax in the fourth quarter, compared with $18.5 million in the third quarter and $27.2 million a year earlier. The increase in the fourth quarter is due primarily to gains on the sale of a block of mortgages and the execution of other investment strategies, offset by lower gains on assets available for sale (AFS) and a weaker contribution from IA Auto and Home.

Income taxes - The Company reported a tax gain of $0.13 per share in the fourth quarter. The benefit is mostly attributed to an increase in the fair value of real estate, resulting in an effective tax rate of 9.3%.

Business Growth - Assets under management and administration continue to grow and reached $83.3 billion at December 31, 2012, up 3% over the third quarter and 14% year over year. Premiums and deposits of $1.8 billion in the fourth quarter are comparable with a year ago.

Individual Insurance sales of $69.2 million in the fourth quarter represent an increase of 8% year over year. Both Canada and the US are contributing to this strong performance.

Individual Wealth Management gross sales picked up momentum in the fourth quarter and finished at $762.1 million. The growth was driven by mutual funds that reported net sales of $173.4 million, more than double the result in the fourth quarter of the previous year. Segregated funds had net sales of $21.5 million.

In Group Insurance, Dealer Solutions sales comprising creditor insurance and P&C products grew 20% to $108.2 million. For the twelve-month period, total sales are up by 30%. Special Market Solutions continue to report good momentum, with sales increasing 12% to $44.3 million. For the full year, sales are up by 16%. Employee Plans reported sales of $7.9 million in the fourth quarter.

Group Savings and Retirement sales of $239.1 million were in line with those of the same quarter last year.

Solvency - At December 31, 2012, the solvency ratio was 217% compared with 211% at September 30, 2012. The key elements that contributed to the increase included: an adjustment to the provision for income taxes retroactive to January 1, 2011 that had a positive impact on retained earnings (+4%); capital relief on the year-end reserves strengthening for lapse (+3%); and completion of the phase-in of IFRS (-1%). The impact of macroeconomic factors was neutral in the fourth quarter. At January 1, 2013, the solvency ratio is 230% reflecting recent amendments to the regulatory capital formula.

Quality of Investments - At December 31, 2012, both net impaired investments (0.04% of total investments) and the real estate occupancy rate (95.2%) remained unchanged from the previous quarter. The proportion of bonds rated BB and lower decreased slightly to 0.10%.

Dividend - The Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.245 per common share, which corresponds to a payout of 30% of net income. The dividend is payable on March 15, 2013 to shareholders of record as at March 1, 2013.

Registered shareholders wishing to enroll in the Company's Dividend Reinvestment and Share Purchase Plan so as to be eligible to reinvest the March 15 dividend or to buy additional common shares of Industrial Alliance must ensure that the duly completed form is delivered to Computershare no later than 4:00 p.m. on February 22, 2013. Enrollment information is provided on the Company's website at www.inalco.com under Investor Relations/Dividends.

Macroeconomic sensitivity - Following the update of its sensitivity analysis at December 31, 2012:

• The Company can absorb a decrease of about 14% (12% at September 30, 2012) in the S&P/TSX index before having to strengthen the reserves.
  
  
• The Company can absorb a decrease of 35% (30% at September 30, 2012) in the S&P/TSX index before the solvency ratio drops below 175% and a decrease of 46% (42% at September 30, 2012) before the solvency ratio drops below 150%.
  
  
• The full-year impact on net income of a sudden 10% decrease in the stock markets remains unchanged at $23 million versus September 30, 2012.
  
  
• The impact on net income of a 10 basis point decrease in the initial re-investment rate (IRR) is $18 million ($24 million at September 30, 2012) and the comparable impact for the ultimate re-investment rate (URR) is $66 million ($60 million at September 30, 2012). The combined impact of $84 million is unchanged over the previous quarter despite the significant increase in Individual Insurance sales.

Market Guidance for 2013

• Earnings per common share: target range increases to $3.00 to $3.40.
• Return on common shareholders' equity (ROE): target range increases to 10.5% to 12.0%
• Solvency ratio: target range remains at 175% to 200%
• Dividend payout ratio: medium-term payout range remains unchanged at 25% to 35%
• Effective tax rate: target range changed to 21% to 24%

Guidance for ROE and earnings per common share excludes any potential reserve strengthening in 2013.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Non-IFRS Financial Information
The Company reports its financial results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards(IFRS). It also publishes certain non-IFRS financial measures that do not have an IFRS equivalent, including sales, value of new business, embedded value and solvency ratio, or which have an IFRS equivalent such as data on operating profit and income taxes on earnings presented in the sources of earnings table. The Company also uses non-IFRS adjusted data in relation to net income, earnings per share and return on equity. These non-IFRS financial measures are always accompanied by and reconciled with IFRS financial measures. The Company believes that these non-IFRS financial measures provide investors and analysts with additional information to better understand the Company's financial results as well as assess its growth and earnings potential. Since non-IFRS financial measures do not have a standardized definition, they may differ from the non-IFRS financial measures used by other institutions. The Company strongly encourages investors to review its financial statements and other publicly-filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure.

Conference Call
Management will hold a conference call to present the Company's results on Friday, February 15, 2013 at 2 p.m. (ET). To listen in to the conference call, dial 1 800 268-5851 (toll-free). A replay of the conference call will also be available for a one-week period, starting at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, February 15, 2013. To listen to the conference call replay, dial 1 800 558-5253 (toll-free) and enter access code 21627964. A webcast of the conference call (in listen only mode) will also be available on the Industrial Alliance website at www.inalco.com.

Documents Related to the Financial Results
For a detailed discussion of the Company's fourth quarter and year-end results, investors are invited to consult the MD&A, financial statements and accompanying notes as well as our supplemental information package, all of which are available on the Industrial Alliance website at www.inalco.com under Investor Relations / Financial Reports and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward-looking Statements
This press release may contain statements relating to strategies used by Industrial Alliance or statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "may", "will", "could", "should", "would", "suspect", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "believe", "estimate", and "continue" (or the negative thereof), as well as words such as "objective" or "goal" or other similar words or expressions. Such statements constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, information concerning the Company's possible or assumed future operating results. These statements are not historical facts; they represent only the Company's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events.

Although Industrial Alliance believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, but are not limited to: general business and economic conditions; level of competition and consolidation; changes in laws and regulations including tax laws; liquidity of Industrial Alliance including the availability of financing to meet existing financial commitments on their expected maturity dates when required; accuracy of information received from counterparties and the ability of counterparties to meet their obligations; accuracy of accounting policies and actuarial methods used by Industrial Alliance; insurance risks including mortality, morbidity, longevity and policyholder behaviour including the occurrence of natural or man-made disasters, pandemic diseases and acts of terrorism.

Additional information about the material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and about material factors or assumptions applied in making forward-looking statements may be found in the "Risk Management" section of the 2012 Management's Discussion and Analysis and in the "Management of Risks Associated with Financial Instruments" note to Industrial Alliance's consolidated financial statements, and elsewhere in Industrial Alliance's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are available for review at www.sedar.com.

The forward-looking statements in this news release reflect the Company's expectations as of the date of this document. Industrial Alliance does not undertake to update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this document or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.

About Industrial Alliance
Founded in 1892, Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. is a life and health insurance company with operations in all regions of Canada as well as in the United States. The Company offers a wide range of life and health insurance products, savings and retirement plans, RRSPs, mutual and segregated funds, securities, auto and home insurance, mortgage loans and other financial products and services for both individuals and groups. The fourth largest life and health insurance company in Canada, Industrial Alliance contributes to the financial wellbeing of over three million Canadians, employs 4,300 people and manages and administers more than $83 billion in assets. Industrial Alliance stock is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IAG.

SEGMENTED INFORMATION

The Company operates and manages its activities according to five reportable operating segments. The Company primarily operates in Canada and the operations outside Canada are not significant. The major products and services of each sector are:

Individual Life and Health Insurance - Offers individual life insurance products and long-term care insurance.

Individual Wealth Management - Offers individual products and services for savings plans, retirement funds and segregated funds, in addition to mutual fund, securities brokerage and trust operations.

Group Life and Health Insurance - Offers group life insurance products and group insurance for long-term care.

Group Savings and Retirement - Offers group products and services for savings plans, retirement funds and segregated funds.

Other activities - General insurance products, products related to car insurance, subsidiaries non related to insurance sector, and assets and liabilities unallocated and allocated to the surplus as well as eliminations and consolidation entries.

SOURCE: INDUSTRIAL ALLIANCE INSURANCE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INC.