Manulife Keeps Series 25 Preferreds Paying $0.3713 Quarterly-Why the 5.942% Rate Still Matters Now

Manulife has reaffirmed the Series 25 payout for now

Manulife has again declared C$0.371375 per share quarterly on Series 25, which works out to roughly C$1.4855 per share annually. The latest declaration is payable on or after September 19, 2026 to shareholders of record on August 21, 2026, so the near-term question is not whether the current income stream is active. It is how investors should think about the security while it remains inside its current fixed-rate window.

Series 25 is still in the five-year period commencing on June 20, 2023, and ending on June 19, 2028, during which the dividend rate is 5.94200% per annum. That leaves investors with an already declared cash stream for now and a known rate until the 2028 reset. The useful way to frame the security is simple: income first, reset risk second.

In 2018, Manulife issued 10 million Series 25 shares at C$25 each to raise C$250 million in gross proceeds, and the company said the issue was expected to qualify as Tier 1 capital. That background matters because it reinforces what kind of asset this is: a financing instrument within Manulife's capital structure, not an equity vehicle with open-ended upside.

These are non-cumulative preferred shares, with dividends payable on or after September 19, 2026 and effectively controlled by Manulife's decision to declare them. That means missed or suspended quarters do not accumulate in the same way they might with cumulative shares or bond coupons. For current income investors, that is an important distinction.

The 2028 reset is the next real decision point

Series 25 is a Non-Cumulative Rate Reset Class 1 issue, with a redemption date that first fell on June 19, 2023, and every five years thereafter. For the current period commencing on June 20, 2023, and ending on June 19, 2028, the dividend rate is 5.94200% per annum. After that, the security starts to look less like a straightforward income instrument and more like a repricing question.

A practical rule of thumb is therefore simple: before 2028, the appeal is mostly steady cash flow; at the reset, the appeal becomes a valuation exercise.

How Series 25 compares with the rest of Manulife's preferreds

Manulife's broader preferred lineup helps put Series 25 in context. In the latest dividend announcement, payouts across other series ranged from C$0.14675 to C$0.396875 per share. Against that range, Series 25 at C$0.371375 per share quarterly sits near the top end, but not in a category of its own.

That supports a restrained view of the issue. Series 25 looks strongest as an income asset inside a large insurer's capital stack, not as a standout growth vehicle or a unique outlier in the series matrix.

What investors should watch from here

This is best used as a modest income filler rather than a portfolio centerpiece. If the goal is a regular cash stream from a diversified insurer, the just-declared dividend gives investors something concrete to anchor on, with the next payment due on or after September 19, 2026.

The main timing cues are straightforward: - whether Manulife continues to declare dividends on Schedule 25 at the current level, - whether the security remains in its current fixed-rate structure through the period commencing on June 20, 2023, and ending on June 19, 2028, - and how the reset mechanics work when the terms come up again at the every five years thereafter point.

The thesis weakens most clearly if Manulife stops declaring on Series 25 while payments on other preferred series continue, or if the reset process produces a materially less attractive income structure than investors are getting now. Until then, the cleanest framing is still the same: hold Series 25 for income first, and treat 2028 as the next meaningful watchpoint.