Sun Life eyes bank partners

MANILA, Philippines - Sun Life Asset Management Co. Inc. (SLAMC) is looking for more working relationships with the private banking units of the country’s major bank institutions, as well as increase its agency force,to 1, 400 financial advisers.

It is the fund manager of seven mutual funds under the Sun Life Prosperity (SLP) Family of Funds, including fixed or bond fund, equity fund, balanced fund, government securities fund, money market fund, and dollar-denominated funds. It is a subsidiary of Sun Life Financial Philippines.

SLAMC chief operating officer Valerie N. Pama said that the fund manager presently guides 1,300 advisers, which are licensed to market both mutual funds and life insurance products.

“We are also expanding our alliances with the wealth management platforms of commercial banks,” Pama said.

Some of its existing relationships include the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), BDO Unibank, Chinatrust Commercial Philippines, Standard Chartered Bank, and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC).

Meanwhile, the fund manager is bullish about the prospects of the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) breaching the 5,800-level this year. It is presently hovering at the 5,200-level, generally perceived to be the support level for Asia’s best performing equity market.

All mutual funds focused on investments in the equity or securities market are the best performers, followed by fixed income or bond funds. Funds invested in foreign-currency instruments are presently the “poor performers.”

Total assets under management (AUMs) under the SLP Family of Funds reached P24.6 billion, up 10 percent from the P22.37-billion recorded end December 2011. Total accounts grew to 34,756, both retail and institutional.

The SLP Balanced Fund was the top grosser with assets worth P10.24 billion end June 2012, up 18 percent from the P8.67 billion recorded in 2011. SLP Philippine Equity Fund slipped five percent, or from P5.95 billion in 2011 to P5.6 billion.

SLP Bond Fund rose to P5.55 billion, up 16.3 percent from the P4.77 billion in 2011. The SLP Government Securities Fund rose to P76 million in June from the P68 million end 2011.

The SLP Dollar Advantage Fund stood unchanged at P1.18 billion, while the SLP Dollar Abundance Fund expanded 25 percent to P74 million.

 The SLP Money Market Fund grew slightly to P55 million in June from the P52 million end 2011.