Sun Life Financial Inc. of Toronto has established a proprietary mutual fund company in Canada.
The fund family, which will include a proprietary family of Canadian funds, is an effort to bring the investment capabilities of MFS Investment Management, Sun Life's Boston-based asset management arm, to Canadian retail investors.
MFS had more than $195 billion of assets under management through March.
"We are expanding our wealth business in Canada by bringing more choices and innovative products to retail investors," Kevin Dougherty, president of Sun Life Financial Canada and president of Sun Life Global Investments, said in a press release Thursday.
The fund family is slated to be rolled out in the fall. It will be sold through Sun Life's advisers and wholesale advisers and will be added to the fund lineup for clients of the company's retirement services unit.
Sun Life, which had $426 billion of assets under management at the end of the first quarter, said the new funds will be added to the funds already available to Sun Life advisers through its strategic partnership with CI Investments.
The mutual fund family, Dougherty said, "enhances the offerings of our advisers by providing them with an even broader suite of wealth products for our clients, along with Sun Life's industry-leading insurance products and services."
