NY Life seeks deals after adding $12 billion of Hancock assets

(Bloomberg) — New York Life Insurance Co. is targeting more deals after purchasing about 1.3 million policies from Manulife Financial Corp.’s John Hancock unit.

“The company is interested in acquiring other blocks of high-quality life insurance in the future,” Chief Executive Officer Ted Mathas said in a statement Thursday announcing the completion of the Hancock deal.

The transaction brings about $12 billion of assets under management to New York Life and is part of Mathas’s strategy to use deals to add funds that his company can invest. The policyholder-owned insurer announced the hiring last month of Saad Khalil, a former Barclays Plc dealmaker, as head of mergers and acquisitions.