Sun Life targets Asia’s booming wealth transfer market with new platform
Insurer joins global scramble to serve Asian clients looking to transfer wealth to next generation via insurance products
Canadian insurer Sun Life has launched a new platform targeting Asia’s fastest-growing wealth management markets, as high-net-worth individuals in the region increasingly seek to use insurance products to protect their wealth and pass it on to the next generation.
The integrated platform – named Sun Life Private Wealth – was launched on Tuesday with about 400 staff spread across Hong Kong, Singapore, Bermuda, Dubai, Canada, Ireland and the United States.
It will serve high-net-worth customers with at least US$1 million of investible assets and ultra-high-net-worth individuals with at least US$30 million, according to the company.
Rival insurers including Manulife, HSBC Life and AXA have also been exploring similar services recently, amid a trend for wealthy individuals looking to use insurance as a tool to pass on their assets to the next generation.
Clement Lam, CEO of Sun Life Hong Kong, said Sun Life had provided insurance products to high-net-worth customers for decades across different markets, but the new platform would connect Sun Life teams across the seven markets to work together and serve these customers, who often had business and family members around the world.
“High-net-worth clients have become very global in nature, as they may live in Dubai, invest in Hong Kong, have business in mainland China, while their children are studying in the US or UK,” said Sujoy Ghosh, CEO of Sun Life Private Wealth, in a media briefing on Tuesday. “We need to have an integrated platform to provide a solution for them globally.”
Ghosh said the platform would offer personal services to meet the different needs of wealthy customers at different life stages, as some entrepreneurs would focus on growing their businesses and wealth, while others would need solutions to pass on their wealth to the next generation.