HISTORY OF
Sun Life Financial
It was the 1860s, the Victorian Era, and a period of expanding horizons and industrial and cultural advancement.
In Montreal, a leading businessman and pillar of society, Mathew Hamilton Gault, had a bold vision of creating an insurance
company that would contribute to the economic growth and prosperity of the newly forming country of Canada. He realized his
ambition by founding what is now the Sun Life Financial organization. The following milestones tell the story of our company from
the time of Mathew Gault to today.
1914
World War I – Many Sun Life
employees contribute to the war
effort, the company is among the
largest subscribers to War Bonds and
they are also sold through the Sun Life
sales force.
In Montreal, construction begins on
the landmark building known around
the world as The Sun Life Building, one
of the finest in the British Empire. Its
final phase is completed in 1933, and we
employ over 1,600 people today in the
distinguished building.
1865
March 18 – We receive assent from the
Legislative Assembly of the Province
of Canada to incorporate a company
to conduct the business of insurance.
However, unfavourable economic
conditions delay plans to move
forward.
1871
With improved conditions, we
commence business as Sun Mutual
Life Insurance Company of Montreal,
changing our name in 1882 to Sun Life
Assurance Company of Canada.
1880s
Sun Life begins its worldwide expansion,
and by 1920 operates in 55 countries. This
includes Hong Kong in 1892, the U.K. in
1893, and the Philippines and the U.S. in
1895, where we operate to this day.
1865
1870
1880
1890
1900 1910
1875
1885
MATHEW HAMILTON
GAULT, FOUNDER
(ABOVE)
SUN LIFE BUILDING,
MANILA (LEFT)
EARLY
CONSTRUCTION,
SUN LIFE BUILDING,
MONTREAL (BELOW)
SUN LIFE MONTREAL
BUILDING TODAY
(BELOW)
1940–1945
World War II – The company’s overseas
operations are significantly affected by
the war, and in its aftermath we help the
families of policyholders by taking special
measures to honour claims. Throughout
the war, Winston Churchill’s government
uses a secret vault three floors beneath
our Montreal building to safeguard $5
billion in securities that helped fund
Britain’s war effort.
1919
Sun Life is the first company in Canada
to offer group life insurance, and
within a few years we are an important
provider of group benefit plans
throughout Canada and the
United States.
1925
Sun Life gives $25,000 to the Banting
Research Foundation for the support
of medical research including diabetes
and insulin, a sizable donation for the
time. In 2013, Sun Life commits to the
diabetes cause worldwide, committing
over $11 million to research, prevention,
education and care initiatives.
1930s
We face the challenges of the Great
Depression, then, company assets begin
rising again in 1936 as world economies
begin their recovery.
1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945
FIRST GROUP CLIENT
CARD (BELOW)
SECRET VAULT
BENEATH MONTREAL
BUILDING (LEFT)
1984
Construction of Sun Life’s
worldwide corporate
headquarters is completed
at the crossroads of King and
University Streets in Toronto.
The headquarters will move in
2017 to a new building — One
York Street, bringing together our
downtown Toronto employees in
one location.
1958
Sun Life is a pioneer in technology,
buying its first computer – a 24 ton
Univac II – which sits on a half-acre
of space in our head office.
1962
Sun Life becomes
a mutual company
following a lengthy
mutualization process
and the buying back
of our shares for $65
million in total.
1982
Sun Life acquires Massachusetts
Financial Services (MFS), the
Boston-based investment
management company. MFS
“invented” the mutual fund
in 1924 and today is a global
investment manager with
operations in over 20 countries.
1950
1955 1965
1960 1970 1975 1980 1985
1978
Sun Life policyholders vote
to relocate the company’s
corporate headquarters from
Montreal to Toronto.
POST-WAR YEARS
Around the world, economic and political changes cause Sun Life to exit many markets, but we leave behind a favourable
reputation that will serve us well as the countries' markets re-open in future years.
SEATED AT THE
CONTROLS IS
PRESIDENT GEORGE
W. BOURKE (RIGHT)
NEW HEADQUARTERS,
ONE YORK STREET
(LEFT)
GROUNDBREAKING
CEREMONY,
150 KING ST. W.
(BELOW)
1999
As the insurance market re-opens to
foreign companies, we return to India by
forming the joint venture Birla Sun Life
with the highly respected Aditya V. Birla
Group.
In China, Sun Life joins with well-
established local partner the
China Everbright Group to form
Sun Life Everbright.
1995
Commencing an era of new expansion
in Asia, Sun Life enters the Indonesia
market. We operate today as
PT Sun Life Financial Indonesia,
as well as through joint venture
CIMB Sun Life that delivers insurance
products to customers of the CIMB
Niaga bank nationwide.
The Philippines Post Office honours
our 100-year anniversary in the
Philippines with two special-issue
Sun Life centennial stamps.
1996
Sun Life establishes
Sun Life Financial International,
offering products to high-net-worth
clients around the world. It is based
in Bermuda and has regional offices in
Dubai, Panama and Singapore.
1998
Sun Life opens a services centre in
Waterford, Ireland, followed later by
service centres in India and the
Philippines. They provide technology
and business support services to
many parts of the company.
1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2005
Sun Life Financial is named
to the inaugural list of The
Global 100 Most Sustainable
Corporations in the World,
by Corporate Knights,
for excellence in social,
environmental and strategic
governance practices, and
appears on the list in many
subsequent years.
2000
We demutualize and shares
of Sun Life Financial Inc. begin
trading on March 23 on the
Toronto (TSX), New York
(NYSE) and Philippine (PSE)
stock exchanges. Over one
million eligible policyholders
around the world receive
demutualization benefits.
To mark our new beginning,
we adopt the brand name
Sun Life Financial and a new
corporate logo that combines
the sun and the earth.
2001
In December,
Sun Life Financial and
Clarica Life Insurance
Company announce an
agreement to combine
operations in a landmark
transaction to create a
powerhouse in the Canadian
marketplace. The merger
is completed in 2002
and by year’s end 2003
the operations are fully
integrated.
2002
Sun Life Everbright is granted
approval to sell life insurance
in Tianjin, China, becoming
the first foreign life insurance
joint venture to operate in
that city and its neighbouring
counties.
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
2004
Our Canadian group
retirement services business
becomes the leading provider
of defined contribution
retirement plans in the
country by market share,
and in 2010 we also become
number one in the Canadian
group benefits market.
SUN LIFE FINANCIAL/
CLARICA ANNOUNCE-
MENT (BELOW)
2008
In the face of the
global financial crisis,
we remain among
the world’s strongest
insurance companies
and continue building
our businesses.
2010
We continue building our brand
around the world and acquire
the naming rights to Sun Life
Stadium in Miami, Florida.
Sun Life Global Investments
(Canada) Inc. is launched,
bringing to Canadians high
quality investment products
and solutions by leveraging our
relationships with world-class
investment managers.
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
2012 2013
2012
We enter Vietnam
through joint venture
PVI Sun Life with
strong local partner
PVI Holdings.
2013
We enter Malaysia with
Sun Life Malaysia Assurance Berhad
and Sun Life Malaysia Takaful Berhad,
our joint ventures with partners
Khazanah Nasional Berhad and CIMB
Group Holdings Berhad. Our footprint
in Asia now includes 16 companies
and six local partners across seven
markets in Asia.
We sell our domestic U.S. annuity
business, significantly reducing our
risk profile. The company now focuses
its U.S. operations on the growing
group benefits business.
2011
We expand our Philippine
operations by forming the joint
venture Sun Life Grepa Financial,
distributing insurance through
branches of the Rizal Commercial
Banking Corporation nationwide.
Sun Life Everbright receives
regulatory approval in China
to establish Sun Life Everbright
Insurance Asset Management
Company, only the 12th such
license issued in China.
2014 2015
2014
Sun Life Investment Management Inc. is formed,
leveraging Sun Life’s long-standing investment
experience to offer private asset class funds
and liability driven investment solutions to
institutional investors in Canada.
2015
We celebrate our Sesquicentennial – 150 years
since our founding. We take great pride in
our heritage and international presence that
has enabled us to touch the lives of millions
of people around the world, and help them
achieve lifetime financial security.
Building our U.S. business, we announce plans
to acquire the Employee Benefits business of
Assurant, Inc. The transaction, which closed
March 1, 2016, created the sixth largest group
benefits business in the U.S. with one of the
broadest product portfolios in the industry.
In asset management, we grow our Sun Life
Investment Management business with three
acquisitions: Bentall Kennedy, one of North
America's largest real estate investment advisors
and service providers, and U.S. institutional asset
managers Prime Advisors and Ryan Labs.
