Sun Life Philippines targets to stay as top life insurer as it invests in growth

SUN LIFE of Canada (Philippines), Inc. (Sun Life Philippines) targets to keep its spot as the top life insurer in the country despite weakening economic prospects.

“We’ve been through all the market volatility and geopolitical risks. It’s just how we manage, how we navigate through those challenges… No one ever expected that there would be a flood control issue, right? But it happens. So, you just have to be ready,” Sun Life Philippines Chief Executive Officer and Country Head Benedict C. Sison told BusinessWorld.

Asked if he expects the company to stay on top of the sector, he said: “Definitely, I think with the way it’s looking. The first nine months results have been out.”

Sun Life Philippines booked a premium income of P44.73 billion in the first nine months of 2025, ranking first in the industry. The company said this was driven by its improved services and expanded offerings.

“We will really work hard to keep it. But for us, it’s not really the competition, it’s the clients. My belief is so long as you focus on your clients, you give them the best service, et cetera, they’ll choose you. And when they choose you, they’ll choose you over the competition. And when they choose you over the competition, you’ll sustain your number one position. So, we’re not here to fight the competition — we’re here to take good care of our client positioning,” Mr. Sison said.

He said they expect to book double-digit growth between 10% and 20% in premium income next year by building on their gains and ramping up their investments in digitalization and their advisors.

He added that the life insurance sector remains “optimistic” on growth prospects for the coming year.

“As you know, the competition is moving quickly into the digital space, so we’re also moving quickly in implementing our digital capabilities, not only to be at par with the competition, but also to lead the digital space in the life insurance industry. That’s the thing that we’re investing in this year, so we’ll continue what we’ve done,” Mr. Sison said.

The company has also tweaked its offerings to include more traditional products than variable universal life insurance (VUL) products amid changing market demand.

“I would say pre-pandemic, we were 90% VUL. Now, we’re about 50-50 traditional and VUL. It has moved really gradually, and that’s all because of the underlying fund performance of VUL products. Clients have shifted towards traditional products and we cater to that need… We’ve developed a lot of new products this year, so we will continue that,” Mr. Sison said.

He added that they expect sustained demand for both kinds of products next year as well as their global fund offerings, especially amid the volatility in domestic markets due to corruption concerns.

“We’re not only focused on the Philippine market, we’re focused on the global market. We do have global funds. And if you’ll compare it, it’s more stable. It has better returns. So we offer both.”

The life insurance industry posted a combined premium income of P299.45 billion in the first nine months of 2025, up 13.77% from P263.21 billion in the comparable year-ago period, data from the Insurance Commission showed.

Variable life premiums rose 15.96% to P198.36 billion, while traditional life premiums went up by 9.71% to P101.09 billion. New business annual premium equivalent climbed by 11.49% to P55.13 billion.

The sector’s combined net income also increased by 7.65% year on year to P30.95 billion in the period. — Aaron Michael C. Sy