Sun Life Financial Inc., with headquarters in Toronto, has agreed to sell its Sun Life U.K. division, which was formerly known as SLF of Canada UK Limited to Phoenix Group, a major player in long-term savings and retirement in London.
The now-completed agreement, which was first announced in August of last year, would see Phoenix Group acquire Sun Life UK’s life and pension policies as well as its annuity blocks. As was already mentioned, Sun Life will continue to have a financial stake in the payout annuities sector in the UK.
As part of the deal, in the meantime, Sun Life will start a long-term engagement to work with Phoenix Group as a strategic asset management partner, managing Sun Life U.K.’s $9 billion general account.
Sun Life CEO Kevin Strain stated during a call stated that the sale is consistent with the company’s objective of expanding fee-based and capital-light operations.
The prospect is intriguing for us and fits with our strategy to concentrate on less capital-intensive enterprises in markets with strong natural tailwinds.
A day prior to the sale announcement, Sun Life posted a second-quarter net income of $785 million, which represents a 13% decline from the same period last year..
Lower COVID-19-related consequences helped Sun Life’s Canada and U.S. operations outperform results that were negatively impacted by equity market falls, according to the company.