Manulife Financial Corp. today reported 10% increase in third-quarter earnings. The life insurer also upped its quarterly dividend by 2¢ to 24¢ a share.

Manulife said net income was $1.07 billion in the three months ended September 30, or 70¢ a share. That compared with $974 million, or 62¢ a share, in the same quarter last year.

Manulife said the rising Canadian dollar reduced earnings by $56 million.

Return on equity was 18.9% for the three months ended Sept. 30, up from 16.6% in the same period a year ago.

Premiums and deposits rose 10% to $16.8 billion from $15.3 billion.

Manulife said total funds under management increased to $399 billion at the end of September from $380.9 billion a year earlier.

Net income at Manulife’s Canadian insurance division rose 45% to $333 million helped by rising equity markets and a good performance by its real estate investments.

Profit at the company’s U.S. insurance division fell 18% to $138 million, hurt by lower interest rates and the strong Canadian dollar.

Profit at its U.S. wealth management unit, John Hancock, slid 4% to $268 million, squeezed by the higher Canadian dollar.

In its Asian and Japanese operations, net income was up 25% to $227 million on the back of stronger stock markets and increased fee income as funds under management rose.

Manulife repurchased 21.2 million shares in the third quarter at a total cost of approximately $849 million.