Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned preliminary ratings to Manulife Financial Corp.’s new $3.5 billion shelf registration.

S&P has assigned ‘AA-‘ senior unsecured debt, ‘A+’ subordinated debt, and ‘A’ global scale preferred stock ratings. The outlook is stable it says, and the existing ratings and outlooks on Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries remain unchanged.

S&P says that the $3.5 billion shelf filed by Manulife and the recently filed $1.5 billion shelf that was put in place for Manufacturers Life allow the group to issue: debt, subordinated debt, preferred stock, or common stock. These shelf programs replace the $5.0 billion omnibus shelf that was previously in place for Manulife Financial and Manufacturers Life.

“The insurer financial strength ratings on Manulife Financial’s primary operating subsidiaries reflect the group’s very strong and geographically diversified business positions in Canada, the U.S., and Asia; extremely strong capitalization; its solid operating performance; the steps taken to de-risk the John Hancock book; and an accomplished management team,” S&P says, noting that the combined organization now represents one of the top-three insurance organizations in Canada, one of the top-five in North America, and one of the top-10 globally, as measured by assets.

“Partially offsetting these strengths are the residual operational and integration risks that are associated with the John Hancock acquisition; the higher risk profile of John Hancock’s institutional spread-based businesses, long-term care business, and bond investment portfolio; and the decrease in the company’s quality of capital due to the goodwill and intangibles that were created by this transaction,” it adds.

“The stable outlook on Manulife Financial and its operating subsidiaries reflects Standard & Poor’s expectation that the group will continue to maintain its track record of solid earnings performance, very strong level of capital and reserves, and manageable asset quality,” the rating agency concludes.