Will strengthen Sun Life Financials' position in the Hong Kong pension market
TORONTO, Aug. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Sun Life Financial Inc. SLF SLF announced today that Sun Life Hong Kong Limited ("Sun Life HK") will acquire the pension business of FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited ("FWD"), consisting of Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") and Occupational Retirement Schemes Ordinance ("ORSO") businesses. Sun Life HK and FWD will also enter into an exclusive 15-year distribution agreement that will allow Sun Life HK to distribute its pension products through FWD's agency force in Hong Kong. (Collectively the "transactions".)
"Expanding our pension business is a key priority for our Asia operations and deepens our wealth business in the region," said Dean Connor, President and CEO, Sun Life Financial. "With the growth expected in the MPF market to meet the needs of Hong Kong's ageing population, this is an attractive opportunity that fits with our global expertise in the pension market."
The transactions announced today, together with Sun Life HK's acquisition of the MPF business of Schroder Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited, will strengthen Sun Life HK's position as a leading MPF provider. These acquisitions will add HK$4.6 billion (C$769 million) in MPF assets under management ("AUM"), and bring Sun Life HK's combined AUM to HK$34.7 billion (C$5.8 billion).1
"This partnership provides an excellent opportunity for us to expand our distribution network. It will further accelerate our already strong growth in the Hong Kong retirement market and follows our new strategic relationship with Schroder Investment Management," said Kevin Strain, President, Sun Life Financial Asia.
The transactions are expected to be completed in stages over the course of 2017 and 2018, subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
Forward-looking information
In this forward-looking information section, "we", "our" and "us" refer
to Sun Life Financial Inc. and its subsidiaries and joint ventures.
Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking, including,
but not limited to, statements that are not historical or that are
predictive in nature or that depend upon or refer to future events or
conditions. All such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to
the "safe harbour provisions" of applicable Canadian securities laws
and of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. The forward-looking statements in this news release represent our
current expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events
as of the time of this news release and are not historical facts. These
forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance
and involve risks and uncertainties and are based on key factors and
assumptions that are difficult to predict, including the assumption
that the transactions will be completed. Except as may be required by
applicable Canadian securities laws, we do not undertake any obligation
to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this
news release. Forward-looking statements are presented to assist
investors and others in understanding our objectives for the
transactions, strategic priorities and business outlook following the
transactions, and in obtaining a better understanding of our
anticipated operating environment following the transactions. Readers
are cautioned that such forward-looking statements may not be
appropriate for other purposes and undue reliance should not be placed
on these forward-looking statements. Information about risk factors
relating to us can be found in the annual information form of Sun Life
Financial Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2015 under the heading
"Risk Factors" and other regulatory filings filed with or furnished to
Canadian and U.S. securities regulators available at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov.
Use of non-IFRS financial measures
This news release includes certain forward-looking financial information
using non-International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS")
financial measures, including AUM, as we believe that these measures
provide information that is useful to investors in understanding our
expected performance.
These non-IFRS financial measures do not have any standardized meaning, may not be comparable with similar measures used by other companies and there are no directly comparable amounts under IFRS. Forward-looking non-IFRS financial measures cannot be reconciled to IFRS measures. These non-IFRS financial measures should not be viewed as alternatives to measures of financial performance determined in accordance with IFRS.
About Sun Life Financial
Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services
organization providing a diverse range of protection and wealth
products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Sun Life
Financial has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including
Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the
Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore,
Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of March 31, 2016, the Sun Life
Financial group of companies had total assets under management of C$861
billion. For more information please visit www.sunlife.com.
Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.
1 AUM figures are at March 31, 2016. Sun Life HK's acquisition of the Schroder MPF business is expected to be completed in the second half of 2016.
SOURCE Sun Life Financial Inc.
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