Sun Life Q4 net income drops 12%

Sun Life Financial Inc. says its net income in the fourth quarter of 2022 was $951 million, down 12% from a year earlier.

Earnings per share were $1.62, down from $1.83 in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Earnings for the full year were $3.1 billion, down 22% from 2021.

Globally, insurance sales were $1.8 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $1.6 billion a year earlier.

In Canada, Q4 insurance sales were up 2% year over year to $246 million, with higher large case group benefits sales mostly offset by lower individual participating whole life insurance sales, the insurer said in a release.

Wealth sales in Canada were up 16% to $6.6 billion in Q4, driven by higher defined-contribution sales in group plans but partially offset by lower individual wealth sales.

As of Dec. 31, Sun Life had total assets under management of $1.33 trillion, up from $1.27 trillion in the previous quarter but down from $1.44 trillion year over year. The 8% year-over-year drop was attributed in part to client distributions, decreases in the value of segregated and managed funds, and outflows from segregated and retail funds.

The company saw net income for its Canadian business segment grow 3% to $367 million in the fourth quarter.

The company says its decrease in net income primarily reflected an unfavourable market as well as the costs of integrating DentaQuest, a recent acquisition.

On Feb. 1, Sun Life sold its sponsored market business (including association and affinity group business) to Canadian Premier Life Insurance Company.

Staff, with files from The Canadian Press

The Canadian Press is a national news agency headquartered in Toronto and founded in 1917.