Skip to signin Skip to main content Skip to footer

Increasing financial security

Empowering people to achieve financial security

We know how important financial security is to our Clients, prospective Clients and their families. We believe there are opportunities to do much more to help Clients, employees and broader society achieve better financial outcomes.

Our approach

A key pillar of our sustainability plan is to expand and create new opportunities to boost financial security. We’re focused on three areas: providing innovative financial products and services; empowering and educating people; and increasing access to and use of protection and wealth products, helping to build long-term wealth and close insurance coverage gaps. 

We offer a broad range of wealth and insurance solutions. Directly in line with our Purpose, they help our Clients and employees increase their lifetime financial security: 

  • Insurance – including life, health, supplemental health, disability, dental, vision and medical stop-loss insurance products. These products give people a financial safety net, allowing them to protect themselves and their families in moments that matter.
  • Investments – including individual and workplace savings, investment, pension, market-based payout and annuity options. These options enable Clients to build savings toward their financial goals, including to and through retirement. 
  • Financial advice – including financial planning and retirement planning services. We have experts with deep understanding of the products available to help Clients achieve their long-term goals.

We recognize that the financial landscape is complex. Many people don’t have the time, interest or financial literacy to navigate their financial choices. We’re using new technologies and nudging strategies to make financial decisions easier for people. These approaches help motivate them to take actions to increase their financial security. For example: 

  • In Canada, the Sun Life One Plan digital tool is a Client's personalized financial roadmap, which adapts to their life stages and is accessible online or working with a Sun Life advisor. 
  • In the U.S., our interactive platform, Benefits Explorer, is designed to provide employees with personalized, live educational content and customized tools to help them make well-informed benefits decisions.
  • In Hong Kong, our digital Retirement Journey Planner helps people build and track personalized retirement goals.

Across all of our markets, we see opportunities to reach and engage more people by creating more relevant offerings and removing barriers to access. We continue working to make insurance and wealth products available, accessible and affordable to more people – of different cultures, communities, income levels, generations and genders – to help them achieve their financial security goals.

For example, we offer affordable insurance products to support underserved people in Asia. Our partnerships with local distributors help consumers access affordable insurance products. We also have products that address the unique needs of communities, including Takaful and Shariah compliant offerings. In North America, we’re taking action to close the insurance coverage gap. For example, our Diabetes Signature Solution program helps Canadians with type 2 diabetes get access to affordable life insurance. We've also created digital tools to make it easier for anyone to apply for the life insurance they need.

Our experience shows that with greater knowledge and confidence, people can make better financial decisions. Across our regions, we’re increasing our financial education campaigns for Clients and community members.  

  • Advisors offer education on the importance of insurance, savings and investments through working one-on-one with Clients. Advisors also help Clients build financial roadmaps to meet their short- and long-term goals. 
  • Our websites are continually updated with easy-to-understand financial information, tools and calculators.  
  • Interactive platforms are designed to provide members with personalized, live educational content and customized tools to help them make well-informed benefits decisions.
  • Social media lets us reach more people to help them understand the importance of financial security.

We also advocate to improve financial security in society. Our activities include contributing to public policy discussions, participating in industry forums and sharing research and insights. 

Goal

Increase the lifetime financial security of Clients, employees and communities.

 We're developing metrics related to this objective.

2023 highlights

  • Empowered people across our markets pursue their financial goals through a range of financial literacy initiatives.
  • Helped Clients create 95,000+ financial roadmaps using the Sun Life One Plan digital tool and launched self-serve capabilities available to 1.4 million Sun Life Canada Group Retirement Services plan members.
  • Covered 2.4 million lives through affordable insurance policies issued in Asia1.

Learn more about our progress and performance in our 2023 Sustainability Report and ESG Performance Tables.

Recognition

Sun Life Malaysia was awarded the Bronze Award for Best Loyalty Strategy - Finance and Insurance at the Loyalty & Engagement Awards 2023. This award recognizes Sun Life Malaysia's integrated initiatives, such as thought-leadership podcasts and social content, financial explainer videos and innovative product solutions that helped people build financial security.

Sun Life U.S. recorded its largest supplemental health sale to-date and was recognized in June 2023 as the 2022 Voluntary Sales Growth Leader in the large carrier category by Eastbridge Consulting2. Voluntary benefits include supplemental health products (such as accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity) that help members pay for costs that may not be covered by their medical plans.

Sun Life Philippines CEO & Country Head Benedict Sison was honored with the Executive Champion of the Year Award at the Asia Trusted Life Agents and Advisers Awards.

More resources

1 Affordable insurance products help people in the mass market (including lower-income segments) meet risk protection needs at an accessible price point. The criteria for a product to be considered affordable insurance varies by country and is based on factors such as: insurance premium amount relative to average income, coverage period, underwriting requirements and/or government regulation. Refer to Sustainability Data Scope – Note 1.

2 Eastbridge Consulting is the source for research, experience, and advice for companies competing in the voluntary/worksite space and for those wishing to enter. For over 25 years, they have built the industry's leading data warehouse and industry-specific consulting practice.  

Refer to Sustainability Data Scope.

Sun Life is one of the 2020 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World.