Sun Life eyes PH infra investments

Global insurance giant Sun Life of Canada is keen to invest in a couple of big-ticket Philippine infrastructure projects, including the Mactan-Cebu International Airport terminal upgrade, as part of its quest for good-yielding assets to match long-term liabilities.

Sun Life Financial Asia president Kevin Strain, who is visiting from Hong Kong, told reporters on Thursday that Sun Life was very much optimistic about the Philippines given its high-growth trajectory, which was likewise being reflected in the strong growth of the company’s onshore business.

The Philippines is “the most important” among Sun Life’s seven markets in Asia, he said, noting that the local unit has now built up a pool of 5,000 agents ahead of its 2015 target.  Sun Life is the largest insurance player in the country in terms of new business or first-year premiums.  Together with the bancassurance business of Sun Life-Grepa, a partnership with the Yuchengco group, the group has a market share of about 25 percent.

“Insurance companies are typically long-term investors so infrastructure investments make a lot of sense for us. But also, it helps to build the economy and not [it’s] just short-term building the economy but long-term,” he said.

“More that can be done with infrastructure here in the Philippines. It’s really [a] win-win [situation] and insurance companies are really good investors in that, because our liabilities are long-term in duration,” Strain explained in a press briefing.

In North America, Strain noted that Sun Life was a big funder of infrastructure projects from windmills to tollroads. Aside from infrastructure, Sun Life is looking at opportunities in the local real estate sector. “We are the largest private placement player and real estate investor in Canada. This fits the long-term nature of our business,” he said.

Michael Gerard Enriquez, chief investments officer of Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc., said Sun Life was in talks with large conglomerates for a couple of infrastructure projects such as the Mactan-Cebu airport project. Sun Life is keen on participating as a funder or creditor rather than an equity investor and can allot as much as P1 billion per debt note issuance if it involves a triple-A rated corporation.