Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services today assigned ‘AA-’ long-term and ‘A-1+’ short-term counterparty credit ratings to Manulife Bank of Canada with a stable outlook.

The S&P ratings are the second independent ratings for Manulife Bank and are similar to those received by the highest rated banks in the country.

According to Standard & Poor’s, their ratings reflect Manulife Bank’s close integration into the Manulife group, low-risk residential real estate portfolio as well as a demonstrated favourable credit loss record. Standard & Poor’s also points to Manulife Bank’s “remarkable (organic) growth in both top- and bottom-line profitability in the past six years, mainly driven by strong corresponding asset growth” and “diversification of product and delivery channels.” Additionally, Manulife Bank’s “very lean cost structure” results from its ongoing focus on efficiency, allowing it to return high value to the customer while maintaining excellent profitability.

“We are very pleased to receive this credit rating for Manulife Bank, which is derived from our record of success and strategic importance of the Bank to Manulife’s operations,” said Roman Fedchyshyn, president and CEO of Manulife Bank, in a news release “We offer Canadians a better way to bank, and these ratings from Standard & Poor’s further recognize the service and security clients can expect from us.”

Manulife Bank is also rated by Dominion Bond Rating Service with an R-1 (middle) for its short-term deposits and AA (low) for its long-term deposits.