The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Feb. 1, edition that CIBC World Markets analyst Paul Holden, in a research report previewing earnings season for Canadian life insurance companies, noted the valuation discount relative to the banks has widened following recent strong performance. The Globe's David Leeder writes that Mr. Holden says: "Our expectation is that interest rates will stay higher for longer than implied by the market, which is a relative positive for lifecos over banks. Regulatory capital also remains a relative positive for the lifecos and we expect relatively solid Q4 results. For these reasons we think it is a good time to trim bank exposure and add to lifecos. Our preferred name at this juncture is Sun Life Financial." Mr. Holden upgraded Sun Life Financial to "outperformer" from "neutral" with a $75 share target, up from $73. Analysts on average target the shares at $74.17. Mr. Holden adds, "We think now is a good time to be adding to Sun Life weights given the relative underperformance over the last year and equity market levels as a catalyst for positive earnings revisions." The Globe reported on Oct. 27, 2022, that Mr. Holden rated Sun Life "outperformer." It was then worth $57.35.