(Bloomberg) -- Manulife Financial Corp., the Canadian insurance company operating in 22 markets, has raised more cash by selling bonds in May than in the past three years combined.

The Toronto-based company has sold over C$3 billion ($2.2 billion) so far this month and is keeping an eye out for more opportunities to sell debt. The bonanza comes as the pandemic prompts even well-capitalized companies to gird for the economic slump.

“I need to think very proactively about managing my funding needs, in general capital and liquidity, and in general over a longer horizon than I normally would,” said Halina von dem Hagen, global treasurer and head of capital management at Manulife. “In this environment, I am actually thinking like 12 months ahead.”

Manulife, whose first quarter core earnings fell 34% to C$1.03 billion, sees chances of an even “more challenging” second quarter, Chief Executive Officer Roy Gori said in an interview on May 6.

Manulife Financial raised around C$2.8 billion between 2017 and 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Manulife Bank, which has a separate funding plan, has raised C$2.25 billion during the three-year period.

Among the transactions priced in recent weeks, Manulife issued C$2 billion of subordinated bonds in two tranches, the largest loonie-denominated bond for an insurance company. The combined order book was about C$5.7 billion. The firm also raised $700 million of seven-year senior bonds in two separate deals.

Manulife’s bond sales more than doubled the firm’s C$1.14 billion of existing debt maturing, or having a call option, during the rest of the year. In 2021, Manulife has another C$2.2 billion of bonds with call options, which is a factor “we keep in mind,” von dem Hagen said.

The company will continue to look for “opportunities to further strengthen what is already a very strong capital and liquidity position,” she said. “But it is all quite opportunistic because it is not on a need-to basis but a want-to basis.”

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