Driving towards a more sustainable future: Sun Life releases 2022 Sustainability Report

Report captures outcomes related to increasing financial security, fostering healthier lives, advancing sustainable investing, and operating as a trusted and responsible business.

TORONTO, March 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX: SLF) (NYSE: SLF) today released its 2022 Sustainability Report and 2022 Public Accountability Statement. The Report captures the company's efforts to maximize its positive impact on society and the environment over the long term. As an organization empowered to be sustainability driven, Sun Life is taking action to embed sustainability into everything it does, from its talent and culture to its business strategies, operations, investments, and philanthropy. Specific highlights on key outcomes can be found here.

"The momentum we're building to power our sustainability ambition is truly remarkable," said Alanna Boyd, Senior Vice-President and Chief Sustainability Officer, Sun Life. "From increasing financial security through innovative products and education, to fostering healthier lives by enhancing access to services, to advancing sustainable investing capabilities to drive the transition to a low-carbon, inclusive economy, we're working toward a more sustainable future for all. This is at the heart of our Purpose of helping Clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives."

• Increasing Financial Security: 1.6 million lives covered through affordable insurance policies issued in Asia.¹
  
  
• Fostering Healthier Lives: DentaQuest added ~3 million members, increasing access to dental care for low-income people in the U.S.²
  
  
• Advancing Sustainable Investing: $80.4 billion portfolio value in assets and businesses that support the transition to a low-carbon, more inclusive economy.³
  
  
• Operating as a Trusted and Responsible Business: 36.9% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across our global corporate real estate, data centres and business travel (2019 baseline).⁴

Boyd added, "I'm proud of what we've accomplished to date, but know there is more work ahead as we challenge and empower ourselves to find new opportunities to create lasting impact for our Clients, the societies in which we operate, and each other."

Establishing Sun Life's Net-Zero Targets

As part of its goal of achieving net zero by 2050, Sun Life today released its interim climate targets for its general account. For more information, click here.

For more information about Sun Life's sustainability efforts, visit www.sunlife.com/sustainability.

All data as of December 31, 2022, unless otherwise noted.

About Sun Life 

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing asset management, wealth, insurance and health solutions to individual and institutional Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of December 31, 2022, Sun Life had total assets under management of $1.33 trillion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.

Note to editors: All figures in Canadian dollars.

Footnotes:

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.

2.  DentaQuest is the largest Medicaid dental benefits provider based on membership as of September 2022. Medicaid provides health coverage to low-income people and is one of the largest payers for health care in the U.S.

3.  Criteria for investments based on ICMA Green Bond Principles, ICMA Social Bond Principles, ICMA Sustainability Bond Principles, GRESB Real Estate Benchmark, and PRI Impact Investing Market Map. Where issuers do not obtain a third-party opinion or provide an internal opinion on their issuance, our investment professionals apply judgment to assess whether the use of proceeds meets the standards set out in the ICMA principles. Does not include all holdings in companies that may be defined as sustainable under other taxonomies.

4.  Emissions resulting from global corporate offices and data centres as well as from business travel, inclusive of majority-owned Sun Life affiliate companies. DentaQuest corporate offices are excluded for the 2022 reporting cycle. All emissions reporting is aligned to the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard using the financial control approach.

 

Media Relations Contact

Kim Race
Director, Corporate Communications
T: 416-779-4574
kim.race@sunlife.com

Investor Relations Contact

Yaniv Bitton
Vice-President, Head of Investor Relations & Capital Markets
T: 416-979-6496
yaniv.bitton@sunlife.com

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SOURCE Sun Life Financial Inc.