Sun Life 2010 Annual Report Download - page 8

4Life’s brighter under the sun
To us,
sustainable
sustainable
growth means
growth means
growth in
growth in
products and
products and
businesses
businesses
with the
right risk and
right risk and
return profile,
return profile,
executed in
executed in
a balanced
a balanced
manner.
Businesses around the world are coming to terms with the aftermath of the global financial
crisis – a fundamentally altered economic order with new risks, and new possibilities. At
Sun Life, our capital strength, diversified business model and strong risk management
practices give us the foundation to manage through difficult market conditions, to take
advantage of opportunities as they arise, and to capitalize on powerful macro trends.
The disciplined execution of our enterprise strategy has enabled us to deliver solid results
for 2010. We have maintained our capital strength and significantly de-risked our product
portfolio. Assets under management were up from last year, to $464.2 billion. We have
achieved strong sales performance in Canada, the U.S. and most of our markets in Asia,
and we are making progress in restructuring our U.S. business to realize more sustainable,
profitable growth.
To us, sustainable growth means generating value in products and businesses with the right
risk and return profile. With over 145 years of experience, strength and stability, we continue
to refine our mix of customer-focused products and services. Our established framework for
managing risk constantly looks to balance the interests of our customers and our shareholders.
Relying on insights gleaned from always listening to our customers, we continue to develop
innovative ways to help baby boomers plan and provide for lifetime financial security. We are
building new businesses to help individuals cope with their increasing responsibility for
health care. And we are on the ground floor of the explosive expansion of the middle classes in
three of the world’s most populous countries: China, India and Indonesia.
China is now the world’s second-largest economy and our partnership operation there, Sun
Life Everbright, is the first of its kind to be restructured as a domestic Chinese company. Sales
have doubled over 2009 and we now have facilities in 36 cities.
We are also the only Canadian life insurer with an operating joint venture in India. Birla Sun
Life has over 11,000 employees, over 600 branches and is ranked sixth among all foreign
insurers. The strength of our team in India was proven this past year as we responded to
dramatic regulatory changes by reworking an entire product portfolio in a mere 60 days.
It was a remarkable achievement and a testament to the capability and dedication of
everyone involved.
As part of the growth strategy in our home market – Canada – we launched a new investment
management company, Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc. The initial suite of 12 funds
harnesses our global asset management capabilities to provide Canadian investors with
attractive new choices to meet their investment and retirement needs and will have broad
in-house and external distribution.
Customers are at the heart of our business and our goal is to engage every customer into
becoming an advocate for our brand. Drawing on our internal brand promise – action powered
by insight – 2010 also marked a deepened focus on the framework of interactions we have
with our customers. Through this framework, we continued to listen to our customers with the
aim of improving service and developing solutions that make it easier to do business with us.
CHIEF
EXECUTIVE
OFFICER’S
MESSAGE