Sun Life Financial Inc.'s Q12024 Underlying Net Income of CA$875 Million, a 2% Decrease, and Underlying ROE of 16.0%

Sun Life Financial Inc. announced its results for the first quarter ended  March 31, 2024.

• Underlying net income of CA$875 million decreased CA$20 million or 2% from Q1'23; underlying ROE was 16.0%. 
◦ Wealth & asset management underlying net income: CA$408 million, down CA$3 million or 1%.
◦ Group - Health & Protection underlying net income: CA$280 million, down CA$23 million or 8%.
◦ Individual - Protection underlying net income: CA$278 million, down CA$13 million or 4%.
◦ Corporate expenses & other: CA$(91) million net loss, improved CA$19 million or 17%.
• Reported net income of CA$818 million increased CA$12 million or 1% from Q1'23; reported ROE was 15.0%.
• Assets under management ("AUM") of CA$1,470 billion increased CA$106 billion or 8% from Q1'23.
• Increase to common share dividend from CA$0.78 to CA$0.81 per share.

"In the first quarter, we delivered on our Client Impact strategy by advancing our asset management and insurance businesses with strong growth in insurance sales, CSM and AUM," said Kevin Strain, President and CEO of Sun Life. "Underlying earnings were affected by the sale of Sun Life UK, higher morbidity claims, and the end of the Public Health Emergency in the U.S. Our capital remains strong and this quarter, we announced a 4% increase to our shareholder dividend and expect to actively continue share buybacks in the second quarter."

Source: Sun Life (Press Release)

Source: Sun Life (Press Release)

​Underlying net income of CA$875 million decreased CA$20 million from prior year, driven by:

• Wealth & asset management down CA$3 million: Higher fee income offset by higher expenses in Asset Management, as well as lower net seed investment income in SLC Management.
• Group - Health & Protection down CA$23 million: Less favorable morbidity experience in U.S. medical stop-loss and lower results in U.S. Dental primarily reflecting the impact of Medicaid redeterminations following the end of the Public Health Emergency, partially offset by strong revenue growth in U.S. Group Benefits, and business growth and improved disability experience in Canada.
• Individual - Protection down CA$13 million: Lower earnings due to the sale of Sun Life UK partially offset by business growth in Asia. 
• Corporate expenses & other CA$19 million decrease in net loss driven by lower financing costs.

Reported net income of CA$818 million increased CA$12 million from prior year, driven by:

• Gains on partial sale of ABSLAMC and the early termination of a distribution agreement in Asset Management; largely offset by
• The prior year gain on sale of the sponsored markets business in Canada;
• Fair value changes in management's ownership of MFS shares; and
• The decrease in underlying net income.
• Unfavorable real estate experience was mostly offset by favorable interest rate impacts.

Underlying ROE was 16.0% and reported ROE was 15.0% (Q1'23 - 17.3% and 15.6%, respectively). SLF Inc. ended the quarter with a LICAT ratio of 148%.

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing asset management, wealth, insurance and health solutions to individual and institutional Clients. Sun Life 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, 2024, Sun Life had total assets under management of CA$1.47 trillion.