Sun Life Financial announced net income reported to common shareholders of $237 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. In the fourth quarter of 2023, net income was $749 million. This is a quarter-over-quarter decrease of 68%.

For the full year 2024, net income stands at $3 billion, down $37 million from the $3.1 billion announced a year earlier. This represents a year-over-year decline of 1.3%.

Sun Life reported underlying net income of $965 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared with $983 million for the same quarter of 2023. This figure is used to present the statement of operating results, which exclude exceptional events such as the sale or purchase of portfolios or other businesses.

For the full year 2024, underlying income stood at $3.9 billion, up $128 million or 3.4% on fiscal 2023.

U.S. health care  

Sun Life's President and CEO, Kevin Strain, highlighted a “20 percent increase in sales” in the individual protection segment, and higher underlying income in Asia and Canada.

On the other hand, the business portfolio in Vietnam lost value. In the U.S., “industry challenges resulting in unfavorable morbidity experience in medical stop-loss,” added Strain.

In his Feb. 14 discussion with analysts, Dan Fishbein, President of Sun Life U.S., explained that higher hospitalization costs in the U.S., an increase in more severe cancer cases due to less routine medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the very high cost of some drugs, all had a downward impact on income in the health insurance segment.

In Canada  

In Canada, the insurer reported net income to common shareholders of $253 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared with $348 million in the same quarter of 2023. This represents a decline of 27%.

For the full year 2024, net earnings in Canada amounted to $1.2 billion, down $35 million or 3% compared with reported earnings for the year 2023.

The company states that this result reflects the unfavourable impact of changes in management assumptions and measures, and of the profit on the sale of the Sponsored Markets business in the previous year, which were partially offset by the increase in underlying net income and the impact of the markets.

Sales  

Sun Life's total insurance sales reached $2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024. This is a decrease of $153 million or 7% compared with total sales of $2.2 billion in the same period of 2023.

For the full year 2024, sales totalled $5.7 billion, compared with $5.4 billion in 2023. This is an increase of $287 million or 5%.

In more detail, during the last quarter of 2024, insurance sales rose by 13% in Asia but fell by 33% in Canada and 9% in the USA compared with the final quarter of the previous year.

For the full year 2024, sales in Asia rose by 29%. In Canada, the increase was only 1.4%. In the United States, sales fell by 13%.

Asset management  

Wealth sales & asset management gross flows totalled $61 billion in the final quarter of 2024, compared with $45.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.

For the full year 2024, sales of wealth management products and wealth sales & asset management gross flows totalled $196 billion, compared with $173.8 billion in 2023.

At Dec. 30, 2024, assets under management stood at $1.12 billion, including $871 billion for MFS and $250 billion for SLC Management.

In the real estate investment sector, the portfolio totaled $9.3 billion on Dec. 31, 2024, compared with $9.7 billion a year earlier. The decrease “is predominantly driven by declines in market values, mainly in the office and U.S. industrial sectors, and property sales in Canada and the U.S.”