Sun Life Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results
Press Release
The information in this document is based on the unaudited interim financial results of Sun Life Financial Inc. (“SLF Inc.”) for the period ended December 31, 2024. SLF Inc., its subsidiaries and, where applicable, its joint ventures and associates are collectively referred to as “the Company”, “Sun Life”, “we”, “our”, and “us”. We manage our operations and report our financial results in five business segments: Asset Management, Canada, United States (“U.S.”), Asia, and Corporate. Reported net income (loss) refers to Common shareholders’ net income (loss) determined in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). Unless otherwise noted, all amounts are in Canadian dollars. Amounts in this document may be impacted by rounding. Certain 2023 results in the Drivers of Earnings and Contractual Service Margin (“CSM”) Movement Analysis were refined to more accurately reflect how the business is managed.
TORONTO, Feb. 12, 2025 – Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX: SLF) (NYSE: SLF) announced its results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024.
- Underlying net income(1) of $965 million decreased $18 million or 2% from Q4’23 (full year – $3,856 million increased $128 million or 3% from 2023); underlying ROE(1) was 16.5% (full year – 17.2%).
- Wealth & asset management underlying net income(1): $486 million, up $47 million or 11% (full year – $1,823 million, up $97 million or 6%).
- Group – Health & Protection underlying net income(1): $266 million, down $99 million or 27% (full year – $1,196 million, down $117 million or 9%).
- Individual – Protection underlying net income(1): $339 million, up $55 million or 19% (full year – $1,270 million, up $133 million or 12%).
- Corporate expenses & other(1): $(126) million net loss, an increase of $(21) million in net loss or 20% (full year – $(433) million net loss, an improvement of $15 million in net loss or 3%).
- Reported net income of $237 million decreased $512 million or 68% from Q4’23 (full year – $3,049 million decreased $37 million or 1% from 2023); reported ROE(1) was 4.0% (full year – 13.6%).
- Assets under management (“AUM”)(1) of $1,542 billion increased $142 billion or 10% from December 31, 2023.
“In 2024 Sun Life achieved strong underlying net income in Asia and Canada, growing 17 percent and six percent over last year, respectively. We also experienced solid growth in Individual Protection with a 20 percent increase in sales over last year, and an 18 percent increase in new business CSM. SLC Management recognized strong net inflows and capital raising throughout the year with a 33 percent increase in net inflows over last year, and capital raising of $24 billion,” said Kevin Strain, President and CEO of Sun Life.
“In the fourth quarter we saw sustained momentum in our Asia business. Our reported net income was affected by market conditions and an impairment in our Vietnam business. Our U.S. business faced some industry-related challenges resulting in unfavourable morbidity experience in medical stop-loss, while we saw improvements in underlying results in our U.S. dental business. Our capital position remains strong with a LICAT ratio of 152 percent at SLF, and we remain confident that our steadfast focus on our Clients, coupled with our balanced and diversified business strategy, positions us well for long-term growth.”
Financial and Operational Highlights
|
Quarterly results |
Year-to-date |
||||
|
Profitability |
Q4’24 |
Q4’23 |
2024 |
2023 |
|
|
Underlying net income ($ millions)(1) |
965 |
983 |
3,856 |
3,728 |
|
|
Reported net income – Common shareholders ($ millions) |
237 |
749 |
3,049 |
3,086 |
|
|
Underlying EPS ($)(1)(2) |
1.68 |
1.68 |
6.66 |
6.36 |
|
|
Reported EPS ($)(2) |
0.41 |
1.28 |
5.26 |
5.26 |
|
|
Underlying ROE(1) |
16.5 % |
18.4 % |
17.2 % |
17.8 % |
|
|
Reported ROE(1) |
4.0 % |
14.0 % |
13.6 % |
14.7 % |
|
|
Growth |
Q4’24 |
Q4’23 |
2024 |
2023 |
|
|
Wealth sales & asset management gross flows ($ millions)(1) |
60,999 |
45,750 |
196,074 |
173,820 |
|
|
Group – Health & Protection sales ($ millions)(1) |
1,270 |
1,459 |
2,737 |
2,942 |
|
|
Individual – Protection sales ($ millions)(1) |
743 |
707 |
2,983 |
2,491 |
|
|
Assets under management (“AUM”) ($ billions)(1) |
1,542 |
1,400 |
1,542 |
1,400 |
|
|
New business Contractual Service Margin (“CSM”) ($ millions)(1) |
306 |
381 |
1,473 |
1,253 |
|
|
Financial Strength |
Q4’24 |
Q4’23 |
|||
|
LICAT ratios (at period end)(3) |
|||||
|
Sun Life Financial Inc. |
152 % |
149 % |
|||
|
Sun Life Assurance(4) |
146 % |
141 % |
|||
|
Financial leverage ratio (at period end)(1)(5) |
20.1 % |
21.5 % |
|||
(1) Represents a non-IFRS financial measure. For more details, see the Non-IFRS Financial Measures section in this document and in our Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) for the period ended December 31, 2024 (“2024 Annual MD&A”).
(2) All earnings per share (“EPS”) measures refer to fully diluted EPS, unless otherwise stated.
(3) Life Insurance Capital Adequacy Test (“LICAT”) ratio. Our LICAT ratios are calculated in accordance with the OSFI-mandated guideline, Life Insurance Capital Adequacy Test.
(4) Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (“Sun Life Assurance”) is SLF Inc.’s principal operating life insurance subsidiary.
(5) The calculation for the financial leverage ratio includes the CSM balance (net of taxes) in the denominator. The CSM (net of taxes) was $10.3 billion as at December 31, 2024 (December 31, 2023 – $9.6 billion).
Financial and Operational Highlights – Quarterly Comparison (Q4’24 vs. Q4’23)
IBF4
