MANILA, Philippines — Benedict Sison, chief executive officer and country head of Sun Life Philippines, has accumulated a wealth of experience in five diverse countries — the United States, India, Canada, China and Hong Kong — before returning to the Philippines. This international exposure has significantly shaped his career decisions and leadership style, providing him the right tools to navigate the complex financial landscape of the insurance industry.
Before joining Sun Life, Sison worked at Conagra Brands, an American consumer goods company, serving various corporate finance roles. In 2010, Sison felt the need to stay in Asia-Pacific amid the region’s booming economic opportunities.
Transitioning from the consumer goods industry to financial services was a daunting prospect. However, Sison’s unwavering determination propelled him to make that critical shift, leading him to head one of the country’s largest insurance firms and contribute to enhancing financial awareness among Filipinos.
When Sison was informed of an available chief financial officer post in Sun Life Philippines, he hesitated initially as he lacked experience in the financial services industry, particularly in actuarial.
But he decided to make the giant leap anyway and as they say, the rest is history.
“At the time, I was really searching for an international company with a strong vision for the future and plans to aggressively grow in Asia,” Sison said.
“What attracted me to Sun Life was the promise of greater challenges. It’s not easy to transition from a consumer goods industry to financial services. Actuarial is a field I was unfamiliar with,” he shared.
Two years later, Benedict was promoted to Asia CFO, overseeing finance across Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, India and China markets.
In 2015, he was moved to the Philippines as chief strategy and financial management officer before becoming CEO and country head in July 2018.
“My experiences have prepared me well for my current role. It equipped me to navigate unpredictable environments and to quickly respond to surprising shifts and trends,” Sison said.
The best and the worst
Like any other job in the world, Sison’s task has its pros and cons. For him, the best part is the challenge to influence people, gain support and inspire his team to perform better.
Sison has to constantly persuade his people to engage their imagination, develop creative solutions and create relationships.
On the other hand, he shared that the worst part of the job is not having enough time for personal quiet moments.
“Time has become such a precious resource that I try to use it as wisely and productively as possible,” he said.
On average, Sison works about 10 hours a day, with some additional hours on weekends. His typical day starts at around 5 a.m. for some exercise as he tries to log in at least 10,000 steps daily— a habit he has picked up during the pandemic lockdowns.
After his morning routine, he goes to the office at around 7 a.m. He would often shut the door for 30 minutes to pray and reflect before starting a day full of work.
As much as possible, Sison tries not to bring his work home, emphasizing his commitment to a healthy work-life balance. He values his weekends as a time to relax and spend quality time with his wife.
“It’s all too easy for work to consume all my time. I’ve come to understand the importance of having a life outside of work,” he shared.
Travel goals with his wife
Sison and his wife Candy do not only share 34 years of marriage, but also the love for discovering what the world has to offer. He said they have found happiness in their shared life together even if it’s just the two of them. Their common passion for traveling allowed them to see the world, cherish experiences and explore new adventures.
They have a personal goal of visiting at least 100 countries in their lifetime, a testament to their shared love for exploring the world. Fortunately, they just finished their 81st destination, Liechtenstein — the world’s sixth smallest country with just a population of about 40,000.
“Travelling makes you understand and connect with different kinds of people,” Benedict said.
Pushing for financial security
Sun Life aims to help Filipinos achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. Sison emphasized that the development of any country is closely tied to the financial well-being of its people.
Sison has committed to advocating financial literacy to enlighten and inspire Filipinos to become more financially responsible while reducing their reliance on future generations.
Unfortunately, the cycle of financial burden and discipline remain problematic in the Philippines.
“This is when parents fail to plan for their own future and often end up financially burdening their children. And then the children, since they are helping their parents, they fail to plan for their future. That has been a cycle and we want to cut that,” Sison said.
The Sun Life CEO noted that financial awareness remains far in the country but continues evolving. However, it is necessary to make it a habit for Filipinos to develop the discipline of regularly saving and investing.
“There should be actions, not just financial literacy. You have to put it in practice,” he said.
Endless opportunities
The topic of insurance in the country continues to be a sensitive one for many considering that not everyone can avail themselves of both an investment and social protection.
Sun Life, for one, has been in the country for 130 years and yet the insurance penetration in the Philippines is still at less than two percent of gross domestic product.
Such a rate is really low compared to neighboring countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, indicating significant room for growth in the Philippine insurance market.
Despite this, Sison said many opportunities continue to make the Philippines a highly attractive market, such as favorable demographic trends, growing middle class and increasing financial literacy.
Sison is also banking on the younger generation particularly the young millennials and Gen Z who are becoming more financially literate given their access to the internet.
“The biggest opportunity in the life insurance industry is that the market is underpenetrated,” he said.
Economically speaking, Sison said the Philippines being consumption-driven is also a big factor for its resilience and its solid macroeconomic fundamentals.
On the other hand, the challenge lies on the low-income level of most Filipinos, hardly having any disposable income.
There is also the barrier of limited access as the current channels to purchase insurance are largely confined through roughly 400,000 license agents, license advisors and banks.
At the end of the day, Sison said Sun Life and all other insurance companies aim to help Filipinos prepare for their future, one way or the other.
“You don’t exactly know when life will end but you can prepare for that eventuality and protect the people you love,” Sison said. “It will give you that peace of mind and that assurance that when you leave this world, the people you love will have the financial support they need,” he said.