Sun Life’s managed funds hit record P11.4B as of 2006

Funds managed by Sun Life Asset Management Co. (SLAMC) has grown to a record P11.37 billion at the end of 2006, a top company official said.

SLAMC is the asset management arm of Sun Life Financial Philippines, one of the biggest financial institutions in the Philippines, dealing among others in life insurance, mutual funds, and pre-need plans.

Its assets under management (AUMs) generated in November alone reached P1 billion, also a record performance for a single fund manager.

Newly-installed Sun Life Financial president and chief executive officer Henry Joseph Herrera attributed the impressive performance of the company’s seven mutual funds, collectively known as Prosperity Funds, to the institution’s expert fund managers.

"The year-on-year net returns of our Prosperity Funds all surpassed benchmarks," Herrera said.

He said he is optimistic that the future in investing in mutual funds will turn the nation of budding savers to a nation of investors.

He added that Filipinos have started recognizing the value of investing in mutual funds as an alternative generating funds.

A mutual fund is a very affordable and practical investment choice for investors who wish to participate in the capital markets to maximize the growth potential of their money, but do not have the time or technical know-how to manage their investment. A mutual fund is managed by professional asset or fund managers.

"Choosing the investment instruments that could provide the best possible returns requires a lot of time, technical know-how and tedious work. However, through our Sun Life Prosperity Funds, investing becomes very easy and simple because we have a team of professional investment managers who will do all the nitty-gritty work for our investors. Sun Life’s expertise in managing mutual funds is known worldwide. In fact, Sun Life Financial owns the Massachusetts Financial Services (MFS), the company that invented mutual funds in the United States," Herrera added.

The Prosperity Equity Fund yielded 44-percent net returns while the Prosperity (Peso) Bond Fund generated a net after-tax return of 11.9 percent. The equity fund are investments made with the country’s equity or stock market while the bond fund invests in fixed-income instruments including government and corporate securities.

"Our most popular fund for the year though was the Prosperity Balanced Fund, which delivered an annual after-tax return of 34.3 percent," Herrera said. The balanced fund allows investors to enjoy the best of both worlds by investing in a combination of equities and fixed-income securities.

The Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, a balanced fund denominated in US currency, also did well in 2006 posting a year-on-year net return of 11.1 percent.