Sun Life AUMs breach P10-B mark

After breaching the P9-billion level in mid-October 2006, Sun Life’s assets under management (AUM) in mutual funds hit P10-billion as of Nov. 15, 2006.

This makes the Sun Life Prosperity Funds the fastest growing family of mutual funds in the country as of this date. It is also currently the country’s biggest family of mutual funds, offering investors seven types of funds to choose from.

A mutual fund is essentially an investment company that pools money from its shareholders and invests it in a diversified portfolio of securities. Mutual funds are managed by professional fund managers to maximize the growth potential of its investors’ investment.

The fund manager for its mutual funds is the Sun Life Asset Management Co. (SLAMC).

There are many ways to invest in today’s market, and the mutual funds are definitely growing in popularity. Mutual funds have been prevalent in European, North American and even some Asian countries. In the Philippines, however, the mutual fund industry is relatively young.

"Choosing the investment instruments that could provide the best possible returns requires a lot of time, technical know-how and tedious work. However, through our Sun Life Prosperity Funds, investing becomes very easy and simple because we have a team of professional investment managers who will do all the nitty-gritty work for our investors. Sun Life’s expertise in managing mutual funds is known worldwide. In fact, Sun Life Financial owns the Massachusetts Financial Services (MFS), the company that invented mutual funds in the United States," SLAMC chief operating officer Henry Herrera said.

As of Oct. 31, the Sun Life Prosperity Balanced Fund generated a year-on-year net return of 33.1 percent.

"The balanced fund utilizes an active asset allocation strategy. It invests in both stocks and fixed-income instruments, which enable investors to maximize their earning potential while, at the same time, cushioning the impact of any market fluctuations," Herrera said.

Sun Life’s Prosperity Equity Fund managed to post higher year-on-year yield of 40.7-percent net return. The Prosperity Bond and Dollar Advantage Funds recorded net year-on-year returns of 12.3 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively.

"Another advantage of investing in Sun Life’s mutual funds is we require all our new investors to accomplish the Investor Profile Questionnaire. This tool assists investors in determining their time horizon, financial goal and risk tolerance to enable them to choose the fund that may be appropriate for their investment needs," the chief operating officer said.

SLAMC is a member of the Sun Life Financial group of companies, a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of wealth accumulation and protection products and services to individuals and corporate customers.