Manulife to keep building capital - CEO

TORONTO, July 8 (Reuters) - Donald Guloien, the chief executive of Manulife Financial Corp (MFC.TO), said on Wednesday that Canada's top life insurer will continue to focus on building capital, staying ahead of the curve of anticipated regulators' demands.

"I think it's only reasonable to expect that this trend will take place and to be ahead of the curve," Guloien said at a luncheon hosted by Bank of Montreal Capital Markets in Toronto.

The Toronto-based firm said on Monday its Manulife Financial Capital Trust II unit would issue C$1 billion ($862 million) of notes for Tier 1 capital, typically used to strengthen balance sheets.

Manulife is still recovering from exposure to billions of dollars in liabilities incurred by its variable annuity business during the global economic crisis, when unhedged bets turned sour as stock markets tumbled.

($1=$1.16 Canadian) (Reporting by Pav Jordan; editing by Rob Wilson)