Sun Life AUM hits record P57 B in April

MANILA, Philippines - Assets under the management of Sun Life Asset Management Co. Inc. (SLAMCI) amounted to about P57 billion as of early-April, exceeding its target AUM of P53 billion by year-end.

Valerie Pama, SLAMCI president and chief executive officer, said the company has surpassed its target AUM as early as April, driven mainly by strong sales in its low-risk and dollar-denominated funds.

“This April, we’re already at P57 billion. It’s a new high for us for the asset management company,” Pama told reporters in an interview.

The volatile environment in the equities market prompted investors to lower risk instruments, such as bonds, according to Pama.

“If you look at it, a lot of our new funds are in the bond funds, especially in the Money Market Fund. Because it (the market) was volatile, a lot of investors were in the sidelines so they decided to wait it out in our Money Market Fund, and we got a lot,” she said.

Sun Life’s Money Market Fund presents the least risk among all the company’s funds as it is targeted for conservative investors.

Aside from this, Pama said the company registered good sales for its new dollar-denominated funds, the World Voyager Fund and the Dollar Wellspring Fund, which benefited from the weakening of the peso.

“Our investors invested in the Voyager and Wellspring as they have good returns and have also gained from the dollar-peso exchange, so we’re still seeing growth,” the company official said.

Sun Life’s World Voyager Fund gives investors access to global equities, while the Dollar Wellspring Fund provides both regular income and capital growth for US dollar investments.

With SLAMCI already surpassing its target as early as April, Pama said the company will soon set a new target by year-end.