Waterloo, Ont.-based Equitable Life of Canada has reported record earnings for 2013, thanks to growth in both its individual and group businesses, and improvements in equity markets and interest rates.

Equitable Life announced on Wednesday annual net income of $58.6 million, up significantly from its previous high of $44.7 million in 2012. As a result, return on policyholders’ equity increased to 16.1% in 2013 from 13.5% reported in the previous year.

“This is the most successful year in our 93-year history,” said Ron Beettam, president and CEO of Equitable Life of Canada. “It represents all our efforts to grow the company profitably in a difficult and highly competitive environment.”

Premiums and deposits at Equitable Life reached a new high of $680 million, up 4% from $654 million the previous year. In addition, the company surpassed $3 billion in assets under administration, just four years after reaching the $2-billion mark.

On the sales front, the individual line of business hit a record high of $45.9 million in new annualized premiums, representing a hefty 18% increase from $38.8 million in 2012. The group line of business brought in sales of $48.8 million.

Diligent expense management as well as good mortality and morbidity experience supported solid earnings in both the individual and group businesses, the company said.

The annual results were also buoyed by strong equity markets and higher interest rates, which helped Equitable Life’s investment portfolio perform well in 2013.

Equitable Life also strengthened its capital position in 2013. The company’s Minimum Continuing Capital and Surplus Requirements (MCCSR) ratio finished the year at 228%, its highest level in more than 25 years. The company’s participating policyholders’ equity, which can be used as a measure of a mutual life insurer’s financial stability, increased to $394 million, from $336 million at the end of 2012.

“While we are proud of our results, we will continue to look for new and better ways to serve our policyholders,” said Beettam. “We are expanding our product lines to keep them both up to date and price competitive, and we are improving our service offering to make it easier to do business with us.”