Great-West Lifeco

Great-West Lifeco Inc. is a Canadian insurance-centered financial holding company that operates in North America (Canada and United States), Europe and Asia through five wholly owned, regionally focused subsidiaries. Many of the companies it has indirect control over are part of its largest subsidiary, The Canada Life Assurance Company; the others (Great West Life & Annuities Financial Inc.) are managed by Great-West Lifeco U.S. LLC, a U.S. based subsidiary. Great-West Lifeco is indirectly controlled by Montreal billionaire Paul Desmarais Jr. through his stake in the Power Corporation of Canada (owned by the Desmarais family since 1968), which owns 72% (down slightly from 74.6% in 2005) of Great-West Lifeco. The hyphen in the company's name was originally a typesetter's error.

For the three months ended June 2013, 63% of revenue originated in Canada, 26% from the U.S., and 10% from Europe. Group retirement products (Canadian sales up 49%) and 401k markets (U.S. Great West Financial sales up 34%) remain key areas of growth for the company. Lower U.K. wealth management single premiums negatively affected growth. Approximately half of company profit comes from Canada, a third from Europe and the rest from the United States. In the first half of 2011, premium income made up 63.99% of total revenue, up from 56.07%. In the third quarter of 2010, British sales outpaced all other regions with 45% growth, followed by the U.S. financial services business (up 41%). In 2009, 100% owned subsidiary London Life ranked 14th among Canada's largest private companies.