People Moves
Sun Life Names APAC Asset Management President
The group, listed in Canada, the US and the Philippines, operates in North America, APAC and Europe.
Sun Life, the international financial services group, has appointed Benjamin Deng as president of its Asia asset management arm, effective 1 January.
In this newly-created role, Deng will lead Sun Life’s asset management function to support the growth of the firm’s insurance and asset management businesses in Asia.
Deng, who will be joining Sun Life’s Asia Executive Team, will report to Manjit Singh, president of Sun Life Asia and Steve Peacher, executive chair of SLC Management, Sun Life’s institutional asset management business.
Previously, Deng was the group chief investment officer at Ping An Insurance, responsible for group-wide insurance investment management with $740 billion in AuM. Prior to that, he was group CIO at China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co, and group head of investment solutions and derivatives at AIA.
In other recent developments, in May Sun Life launched a series of critical illness protection plans that also include ESG elements. The series includes SunWell Advanced Care, SunWell Supreme Care and SunWell Essential Care.
As reported in December 2023, Sun Life Singapore – another part of the Sun Life group – appointed Christopher Albrecht as its new chief executive, effective 1 January. He is based in Singapore.
In August 2022, Sun Life Hong Kong launched Stellar (18-pay), adding death benefit settlement options to aid clients’ legacy planning. It also launched the SaveFast Endowment Plan, a US dollar-denominated non-participating savings plan. In early December 2023, it appointed Patrick Wei as chief distribution officer, Asia. The firm in Singapore also inked a pact with Prudential Financial Advisers Singapore.
Sun Life says it is a top 25 asset manager globally with $1.51 trillion in assets under management. The group, which is listed in Toronto, New York and the Philippines, operates in Canada, the US, the UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda.
