Sun Life is working on its retail wealth reputation

Sun Life is aiming to increase its wealth business’ visibility among Canadian financial advisors, according to the president of Sun Life Financial Investment Services Inc. (SLFISI). Reggie Alvares says that while the insurance giant serves close to two million Canadian retail wealth customers and 12 million group retirement savings plan members, its reputation among wealth managers requires work.

“We need to emphasize the wealth brand across Canada at the advisor level,” said Alvares. “The perception is that we are purely an insurance company.”

As one of the largest asset managers in Canada, Alvares said Sun Life is promoting its wealth management business by participating in more industry events and encouraging advisors to become peer advocates.

“We know wealth and it’s a good place for experienced advisors to join,” he said.

Sun Life is targeting high-net-worth individuals with its securities arm, Sun Life Canada Securities Inc., which launched last year, Alvares noted. It also recently launched its own mutual fund portfolios, which will help advisors cater to that market segment.

And soon, Sun Life will launch separate managed accounts and unified managed accounts. “It helps clients recognize that our advisors mean business,” Alvares said.

Captive advisors remain a priority

While Sun Life boosts its image in retail wealth management, it’s still committed to the captive model.

Many independent practices, other than bank-owned firms, have aging advisors, Alvares explained. The main advantage of having captive advisors is that they provide a pipeline of professionals in their late 40s and early 50s, younger than the industry average. Alvares described retention as “pretty OK.”

Sun Life’s training regime moves advisors up into higher wealth segments as they progress in their careers, supporting client retention and building a larger book of business, he added.

With a compensation grid that starts at the high 60% range and tops out around 80%, scaling with productivity, Sun Life has “one of the best” compensation frameworks, Alvares claimed.

“We are serious about this,” he said.