After Sun Life Financial Inc. reported strong quarterly results, the head of the Toronto-based insurer said he’s optimistic about growth as the world goes through a “truly transformative time.”
 

In an interview, chief executive Kevin Strain said that, over the last year, shifts in how businesses work have had a “muted” impact on the economy so far. He noted that equity and credit markets are strong, inflation is under control and the interest rate yield curve has steepened.
 

“As much as geopolitical risk is getting talked about a lot, I think the impacts have been fairly small to date,” he said. “But it does mean that we have to spend more time working with governments and regulators in all of our markets and focusing on our purpose in those markets.”
 

In its latest earnings report, Sun Life said underlying net income grew 13 per cent year-over-year in the fourth quarter, to $1.1 billion. Underlying net income was $4.2 billion in 2025, up nine per cent from 2024.
 

As a “truly global Canadian company,” Sun Life has been involved in helping Canada diversify its trade, Strain said.
 

“We take our deep experience in Asia as being an important thing that we can (use to) help other Canadian companies establish presence there,” he said. “I’ve been on trade missions in Southeast Asia and Japan. We’ve hosted trade missions of people here from Korea. I think as a company, our involvement in helping Canada with that diversification is important.”
 

On a call with analysts, Strain highlighted Hong Kong and Indonesia as “standout markets” in the company’s Asia unit, where underlying net income increased 18 per cent to $207 million. 
 

“You have four billion people, you’ve got growing economies, you’ve got growing high net worth, and that’s what we’re seeing as a big tailwind there,” said Strain, who was president of Sun Life Asia before assuming the role of CEO.
 

In its earnings report, the company said growth and favourable mortality experience in Asia also contributed to underlying net income in the company’s individual protection business, which rose 17 per cent to $362 million.
 

Underlying net income for its group health and protection unit came in at $308 million, up 16 per cent, based on growth in Canada and improved medical stop-loss morbidity in the U.S. 
 

National Bank of Canada analyst Gabriel Dechaine said the quarterly results “should come as a relief” to investors who were concerned about the recent performance of Sun Life’s U.S. business, with its higher claims and higher claims severity.
 

“Notably, the stop-loss business benefitted from improved claims cost trends,” Dechaine said in a note. “These should improve even more in 2026 as (Sun Life) is expected to implement another round of repricing that should get closer to target margins.”
 

The company’s American operations posted a 30 per cent jump in underlying income to $210 million, and Strain said he sees room for growth in the world’s largest economy. 
 

“It has a massive employee benefits industry and need, and we align well to that. We have scale,” he said. “We’re a top 10 provider in the employee benefits space, so we still think that it’s a really good place for us to do business.”
 

Sun Life reported $1.6 trillion in assets under management at the end of 2025, up from $1.54 trillion in 2024.
 

Underlying net income for Sun Life’s asset management and wealth business grew 10 per cent to $534 million, driven by lower credit losses and higher fee income in Canada and higher fee income from average net asset growth at MFS Investment Management. The unit’s results were offset by Sun Life Capital Management’s lower net seed investment income.
 

Underlying earnings per share was $1.96, up 17 per cent over last year. The company declared a common share dividend of 92 cents per share, unchanged from the previous quarter.
 

Strong sales helped underlying net income rise 14 per cent to $417 million in Canada, which Strain said is “foundational” to the company’s business.
 

“It’s where we started. We’ve been in this business for 160 years, and we’re growing faster than the GDP of the country,” he said. “We expect to grow in Canada at six-per-cent-plus, with strong growth in the wealth space in particular, and strong growth from investments we’re going to make in digital.”

• Email: jswitzer@postmedia.com

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