Sun Life of Canada, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Life Financial, has recently announced an agreement with PVI Holdings under which Sun Life will increase its stake in their Vietnamese joint-venture, the PVI Sun Life Insurance Company, from 49% to 75% by acquiring an additional 26% of the company's charter capital. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval in both Vietnam and Canada and is expected to close in the first quarter 2016.

PVI Sun Life will derive benefits from both parties. It will make use of Sun Life of Canada's expertise and experience in life insurance and pensions, while it will also take advantage of PVI's solid brand, reputation, customer base, and distribution abilities.

"As we increase our ownership in PVI Sun Life, we look forward to further sharing Sun Life's enterprise and regional Asian expertise and capabilities with the Company," comments Kevin Strain, president of Sun Life Financial Asia. "We are also delighted to continue our successful partnership with PVI. We view this investment as a confirmation of our long-term commitment to PVI and to Vietnam. We are committed to helping the Vietnamese people achieve lifetime financial security by offering a strong suite of insurance and wealth management products."

In recent years, Vietnam has been one of the economies with the fastest level of expansion in Asia, and the life insurance and pension plans sectors are expected to continue to show significant growth.