Sun Life Financial Investor Day 2012
TORONTO, ON – (March 8, 2012) – Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX: SLF) (NYSE: SLF)(1) will hold Investor Day 2012 at 1:00 p.m. ET today, to provide investors with an update on the Company’s performance, strategic goals, financial objectives and plans to grow the business. The event will feature presentations from Dean Connor, President and Chief Executive Officer, and other members of the Sun Life Financial Executive Team.
Senior Company executives speaking at the event will provide details on growth strategies and financial objectives, including the Company’s 2015 objectives to increase its annual operating net income to $2 billion and achieve an operating return on equity ("ROE”)(2) of 12% to 13%.
Dean Connor, President and CEO, said Sun Life is focused on improving shareholder returns and reducing volatility while maintaining a strong capital and dividend position.
"We are shifting more of our capital into businesses that have strong growth prospects, generate less volatility and can provide higher returns on shareholder equity,” Connor said. "We believe the targets for operating return on equity and operating net income are challenging yet achievable in the current environment.”
The Company will concentrate its resources on four pillars of growth, Connor said. The growth strategy includes:
- Becoming the best performing life insurer in Canada by capitalizing on growing retirement market opportunities, building on our market-leading success in both the group benefits and pensions businesses, increasing scale in wealth management and growing asset and insurance premium gathering capabilities by providing products and services to clients through the workplace.
- Enhancing a leadership position in U.S. group insurance and becoming a top five provider of voluntary benefits. In the group business, our strategy is to grow and further specialize our sales force, increase wholesaler productivity and build out our small business capability. In our voluntary business, we will build distribution and new enrolment capabilities and launch a stand-alone product suite. Both businesses will also benefit from enhancements in technology platforms.
- Growing the Company’s asset management businesses globally through MFS and our other asset management operations. MFS’s strategy is to continue to deliver strong investment performance, increase the scope of product offerings, expand its distribution and global footprint and elevate client service to best-in-class.
- Intensifying Sun Life’s focus on Asia by continuing to expand distribution channels for insurance and wealth management products and services to take advantage of fast-growing economies in the markets where we do business – the Philippines, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and China, which represent 70 per cent of Asia’s population.
"The strategy is based on a diversified set of linked businesses, leveraging our current strong market share and expertise in asset management, individual protection and group pensions and benefits,” Connor said. He noted that Sun Life has already taken significant action towards implementing the strategy, including shifting the overall business mix to less capital-intensive products, expanding wealth management operations and growing distribution capabilities in Asia.
Sun Life Financial Investor Day 2012 Information
Sun Life Financial will host Investor Day 2012 at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 8, 2012 to provide investors and analysts with an update on the Company’s performance, strategic goals, financial objectives and plans to grow the business. To listen to the live webcast and view the presentation slides, please visit www.sunlife.com/InvestorDay 10 minutes prior to the start of the presentations. The webcast and presentations will be archived on the Company’s website following the event.
