Sun Life Financial reported net income of $3.06 billion in 2022, down 22 per cent or $874 million from the previous year.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, net income was $951 million, for a decrease of 12 per cent or $127 million versus Q4 2021.
In announcing the results, Sun Life President and CEO Kevin Strain highlighted the 18 per cent increase in insurance sales, earnings growth in the U.S. and Canada, and $21.5 billion in net inflows at SLC Management.
In Canada
Domestically, Sun Life posted net income of $1 billion in 2022, versus $1.6 billion in 2021. The decrease amounts to $558 million, or 36 per cent.
In the final quarter of 2022, reported net income was $367 million, up slightly from $356 million in the Q4 2021.
In the U.S., net income was $586 million in 2022, a 17 per cent increase from the $499 million reported in 2021 in that market.
In Asia, net income plunged 52 per cent to $515 million in 2022, compared with $1.08 billion in 2021. One reason for the downturn is the gain on the IPO from the India asset management joint venture in the previous year.
Insurance sales
Sun Life's total insurance sales were $4.3 billion in 2022, versus $3.7 billion in 2021. The year-over-year increase is $647 million, or nearly 18 per cent.
For the fourth quarter of 2022, insurance sales were $1.8 billion, compared with $1.6 billion in Q4 2021. The corresponding increase is $237 million or 15 per cent.
In Canada, insurance sales passed the $1 billion mark, and reached $1.03 billion in 2022, versus $852 million in 2021. This amounts to a growth of $177 million or 21 per cent.
Higher large case group benefits sales in Sun Life Health were mostly offset by lower sales of individual participating whole life insurance.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, insurance sales were $246 million, up from $241 million in Q4 2021.
In the U.S., insurance sales grew by $384 million to $1.95 billion in 2022, compared with $1.56 billion in 2021. This represents an increase of 25 per cent.
In 2022, insurance sales in Asia increased by $86 million (7 per cent) year to $1.34 billion, compared with $1.26 billion in 2021.
Wealth
Wealth sales were $204.1 billion in 2022, down from $228.4 billion in 2021. The decrease amounts to $24.3 billion or nearly 11 per cent.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, wealth sales followed the same downward trend. They were $45.8 billion in 2022, for a decline of $10.9 billion or 19 per cent compared with the same quarter in 2021.
In Canada, sales of wealth products were in line with the prior year. They were $20.1 billion in 2022, versus $19.9 billion in 2021. The corresponding increase is $238 million, or 12 per cent.
For the fourth quarter of 2022, the wealth segment advanced by $6.6 billion in Canada, up $908 million, or 16 per cent, from the $5.7 billion in sales reported in Q4 2021.
The other two sectors, Asia and Asset Management, saw declines in wealth product sales in 2022. In Asia, volume fell from $15.5 billion to $11.1 billion, a 28 per cent reduction from 2021, with the sharpest drop seen in Q4, at $2.2 billion. Between Q4 2021 and 2022, wealth sales plunged by 56 per cent.
In Asset Management, growth flows fell from $193.1 billion in 2021 to $172.9 billion in 2022, for a downturn of 10.5 per cent.
