05:50:43 EDT Fri 29 Mar 2024
Enter Symbol
or Name
USA
CA



Sun Life Financial Inc
Symbol SLF
Shares Issued 586,079,916
Close 2022-09-01 C$ 57.49
Market Cap C$ 33,693,734,371
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Sun Life to acquire 51% of Advisors AM for $214M (U.S.)

2022-09-01 17:41 ET - News Release

Mr. Steve Peacher reports

SUN LIFE TO ACQUIRE A MAJORITY STAKE IN ADVISORS ASSET MANAGEMENT

Sun Life Financial Inc. intends to acquire a majority stake in Advisors Asset Management Inc. (AAM), a leading independent United States retail distribution firm, through SLC Management, Sun Life's institutional fixed income and alternatives asset manager. AAM will become the U.S. retail distribution arm of SLC Management.

AAM provides a range of solutions and products to financial advisers at wirehouses, registered investment advisers (RIAs) and independent broker-dealers. AAM will have exclusive rights to market and promote SLC Management's specified alternative investment products to the U.S. retail market. AAM oversees $41.4-billion (approximately $55-billion (Canadian)) in assets as of July 31, 2022. With 10 offices across eight U.S. states, AAM has a team of more than 270 professionals.

Sun Life will acquire a 51-per-cent interest in AAM for $214-million (U.S.)(approximately $280-million (Canadian)) subject to customary adjustments with a put/call option to acquire the remaining 49 per cent starting in 2028. As part of the transaction, Sun Life is committing to invest up to $400-million (U.S.) to launch SLC Management alternative products for the U.S. retail market to be distributed by AAM.

"We're thrilled that AAM will be joining SLC Management," said Steve Peacher, president, SLC Management. "We've seen a sustained increase in demand for alternatives from the high-net-worth and ultrahigh-net-worth market as they look to add new sources of yield and total return."

"We've been looking to enter into the retail distribution segment for some time now. Adding AAM to our platform allows us to extend our set of world-class alternative investment capabilities to new clients and expands the roster of investment solutions that AAM can offer to the U.S. financial advisor market," added Mr. Peacher.

With the growing demand among high-net-worth (HNW) investors for alternative assets in the U.S., the acquisition of a majority stake in AAM will allow SLC Management and its affiliated investment managers, BentallGreenOak, Crescent Capital Group and InfraRed Capital Partners, to offer their investment strategies to the U.S. HNW market. The transaction is also strategic for AAM, which will expand its product roster to include a range of alternative products in commercial real estate, private credit and infrastructure.

"We see significant potential in the alternatives space to deliver steady, reliable returns for our clients, which has been AAM's mission as a trusted resource for financial professionals for more than 40 years," said Scott Colyer, chief executive officer, Advisors Asset Management. "As we sought to diversify and gain a greater foothold within alternatives, it was crucial to identify a best-in-class partner that shared the same client-focused and team-oriented culture as ours. SLC Management's common values and interest in establishing a durable, long-term partnership figured heavily into the decision to join forces with one of the premier alternatives asset managers in the world."

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Evercore acted as financial adviser to Sun Life for this transaction and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as legal counsel. For AAM, Berkshire Global Advisors acted as financial adviser and Chapman and Cutler LLP acted as legal counsel.

About Sun Life Financial Inc.

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing asset management, wealth, insurance and health solutions to individual and institutional clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of June 30, 2022, Sun Life had total assets under management of $1.26-trillion.

Sun Life Financial trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.

About SLC Management

SLC Management is a global institutional asset manager that offers institutional investors traditional, alternative and yield-orientated investment solutions across public and private fixed income markets, as well as global real estate equity and debt. SLC Management is the brand name for the institutional asset management business of Sun Life Financial, under which the entities of Sun Life Capital Management (U.S.) LLC in the United States, and Sun Life Capital Management (Canada) Inc. in Canada operate. These entities are also referred to as SLC Fixed Income and represent the investment-grade public and private fixed income strategies of SLC Management.

BentallGreenOak, InfraRed Capital Partners (InfraRed) and Crescent Capital Group (Crescent) are also part of SLC Management. BentallGreenOak is a leading, global real estate investment management adviser and a globally recognized provider of real estate services. InfraRed is an international investment manager focused on infrastructure, managing equity capital in multiple private and listed funds, primarily for institutional investors across the globe. Crescent is a global alternative credit investment asset manager registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser. Crescent provides private credit financing (including senior, unitranche and junior debt) to middle-market companies in the United States and Europe and invests in high-yield bonds and broadly syndicated loans.

As of June 30, 2022, SLC Management has assets under management of $335-billion ($260-billion (U.S.)).

About Advisors Asset Management Inc.

For over 40 years, AAM has been a trusted resource for financial advisers and broker/dealers. It offers access to unit investment trusts (UITs), open- and closed-end mutual funds, separately managed accounts (SMAs), structured products, the fixed income markets, portfolio analytics, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

As of July 31, 2022, the brokerage and adviser business at AAM represents approximately $41.4-billion in assets. (Assets under supervision represent $6.1-billion in UIT assets. The firm has $31.5-billion in assets under administration that represents the non-proprietary assets for which AAM provides various levels of service, but not management. The firm's $3.8-billion in assets under management represents AAM's proprietary separately managed account, mutual fund and ETF assets.)

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