TORONTO, June 24 (Reuters) - Manulife Financial ( MFC )

said on Monday it expects to generate more than C$22 billion

($16.11 billion) of cash by 2027, as the Canadian insurer laid

out a plan ahead of its investor day in Asia for cash generation

in a higher interest-rate environment.

The insurer, which has increasingly focused on Asia for

growth, is organising the two-day event on Tuesday in Hong Kong

and Jakarta, the second time it has done so in the region.

Manulife introduced the cumulative remittances target as it

focuses on cash generation and has completed reinsurance deals

to unlock millions of dollars.

This year, the company signed a C$5.8-billion reinsurance

deal with RGA Life and reinsured C$13 billion of its reserves

with KKR & Co ( KKR )-backed Global Atlantic last year.

"We significantly strengthened the foundations of our

company through organic and inorganic actions, while delivering

superior financial results and an industry-leading total

shareholder return," CEO Roy Gori said in a statement.

"I am convinced that the best is still ahead of us," he

said.

The insurer also forecast core return on equity of 18%-plus

by 2027, higher than the 13% it recorded in 2018 and over 15% in

2022.

Gori said in March the insurer had released C$11 billion of

capital since 2018 and improved the core return on equity by

about 5% since 2017.

The insurer and its smaller Canadian peer Sun Life

have both sought growth in Asia as they look to diversify away

from home, sending some of their top executives to lead the

region.

Sun Life's CEO, Kevin Strain, and Manulife's Gori, both held

top roles in Asia before taking the top seats. More recently,

both insurers sent their CFOs - Phil Witherington from Manulife

and Manjit Singh from Sun Life- to lead the Asia operations.

($1 = 1.3655 Canadian dollars)