AAM to become the retail distribution arm
of SLC Management in the U.S.
TORONTO, WELLESLEY, Mass. and MONUMENT, Colo., Sept. 1, 2022 /CNW/ - Sun Life Financial
Inc. (TSX: SLF) (NYSE: SLF) today announced that it intends to
acquire a majority stake in Advisors Asset Management, Inc.
("AAM"), a leading independent U.S. retail distribution firm,
through SLC Management, Sun Life's institutional fixed income and
alternatives asset manager. AAM will become the U.S. retail
distribution arm of SLC Management.
AAM provides a range of solutions and products to financial
advisors at wirehouses, registered investment advisors ("RIA's")
and independent broker-dealers. AAM will have exclusive rights to
market and promote SLC Management's specified alternative
investment products to the U.S. retail market. AAM oversees
$41.4 billion (approximately
C$55 billion) in assets as of
July 31, 2022. With 10 offices across
eight U.S. states, AAM has a team of more than 270 professionals.
Sun Life will acquire a 51% interest in AAM for US$214 million (approximately C$280 million) subject to customary adjustments
with a put/call option to acquire the remaining 49% starting in
2028. As part of the transaction, Sun Life is committing to invest
up to US$400 million to launch SLC
Management alternative products for the U.S. retail market to be
distributed by AAM.
"We're thrilled that AAM will be joining SLC Management," said
Steve Peacher, President, SLC
Management. "We've seen a sustained increase in demand for
alternatives from the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth
market as they look to add new sources of yield and total
return."
"We've been looking to enter into the retail distribution
segment for some time now. Adding AAM to our platform allows us to
extend our set of world class alternative investment capabilities
to new clients and expands the roster of investment solutions that
AAM can offer to the U.S. financial advisor market," added
Peacher.
With the growing demand among high-net-worth ("HNW") investors
for alternative assets in the U.S., the acquisition of a majority
stake in AAM will allow SLC Management and its affiliated
investment managers, BentallGreenOak, Crescent Capital Group and
InfraRed Capital Partners, to offer their investment strategies to
the U.S. HNW market. The transaction is also strategic for AAM,
which will expand its product roster to include a range of
alternative products in commercial real estate, private credit and
infrastructure.
"We see significant potential in the alternatives space to
deliver steady, reliable returns for our clients, which has been
AAM's mission as a trusted resource for financial professionals for
more than 40 years," said Scott
Colyer, CEO, Advisors Asset Management. "As we sought to
diversify and gain a greater foothold within alternatives, it was
crucial to identify a best-in-class partner that shared the same
client-focused and team-oriented culture as ours. SLC Management's
common values and interest in establishing a durable, long-term
partnership figured heavily into the decision to join forces with
one of the premier alternatives asset managers in the world."
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023,
subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of
customary closing conditions.
Evercore acted as financial advisor to Sun Life for this
transaction and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served
as legal counsel. For AAM, Berkshire Global Advisors acted as
financial advisor and Chapman and Cutler LLP acted as legal
counsel.
About Sun Life
Sun Life is a leading international financial services
organization providing asset management, wealth, insurance and
health solutions to individual and institutional Clients. Sun Life
has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including
Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong
Kong, the Philippines,
Japan, Indonesia, India, China,
Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of June 30,
2022, Sun Life had total assets under management of
C$1.26 trillion.
Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New
York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the
ticker symbol SLF.
About SLC Management
SLC Management is a global institutional asset manager that
offers institutional investors traditional, alternative and
yield-orientated investment solutions across public and private
fixed income markets, as well as global real estate equity and
debt. SLC Management is the brand name for the institutional asset
management business of Sun Life Financial Inc. ("Sun Life") under
which the entities of Sun Life Capital Management (U.S.) LLC in
the United States, and Sun Life
Capital Management (Canada) Inc.
in Canada operate. These entities
are also referred to as SLC Fixed Income and represent the
investment grade public and private fixed income strategies of
SLC Management.
BentallGreenOak, InfraRed Capital Partners (InfraRed) and
Crescent Capital Group (Crescent) are also part of SLC Management.
BentallGreenOak is a leading, global real estate investment
management advisor and a globally recognized provider of real
estate services. InfraRed is an international investment manager
focused on infrastructure, managing equity capital in multiple
private and listed funds, primarily for institutional investors
across the globe. Crescent is a global alternative credit
investment asset manager registered with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission as an investment adviser. Crescent provides
private credit financing (including senior, unitranche and junior
debt) to middle-market companies in the U.S. and Europe and invests in high-yield bonds and
broadly syndicated loans.
As of June 30, 2022, SLC
Management has assets under management of C$335 billion (US$260
billion).
For more information, please visit
slcmanagement.com.
About Advisors Asset Management
For over 40 years, AAM has been a trusted resource for financial
advisors and broker/dealers. It offers access to unit investment
trusts (UITs), open- and closed-end mutual funds, separately
managed accounts (SMAs), structured products, the fixed income
markets, portfolio analytics and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). For
more information, visit www.aamlive.com.
As of July 31, 2022, the brokerage
and advised business at AAM represents approximately $41.4 billion in assets. (Assets under
supervision represent $6.1 billion in
UIT assets. The firm has $31.5
billion in assets under administration that represents the
non-proprietary assets for which AAM provides various levels of
service, but not management. The firm's $3.8
billion in assets under management represents AAM's
proprietary separately managed account, mutual fund and ETF
assets.)
Advisors Asset Management, Inc. (AAM) is a SEC-registered
investment advisor and member FINRA/SIPC.
CRN: 2022-0825-10303 R
Forward-Looking Statements
From time to time, Sun Life makes written or oral
forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities
laws, including the "safe harbour" provisions of the United States
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable
Canadian securities legislation. Forward looking statements
contained in this release include, without limitation, statements
(i) relating to our strategies, (ii) relating to SLC Management's
anticipated acquisition of a 51% equity interest in AAM; (iii) that
AAM will become the retail distribution arm of SLC Management; (iv)
relating to our growth initiatives and other business objectives,
(v) relating to the expected timing of the closing of the
transaction, (vi) relating to the expected impact of the
transaction on our business, (vii) that are predictive in nature or
that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and
(viii) that include words such as "intends", "expect", "will", and
similar expressions.
These statements represent our current expectations, estimates,
and projections regarding future events and are not historical
facts, and remain subject to change, particularly in light of the
ongoing and developing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the
global economy and its uncertain impact on our business.
Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future
performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult
to predict. The forward-looking statements in this news release do
not reflect the potential impact of any non-recurring or other
special items or of any dispositions, mergers, acquisitions, other
business combinations or other transactions that may be announced
or that may occur after the date of this news release. If any
non-recurring or other special item or any transaction should
occur, the financial impact could be complex and the effect on our
operations or results would depend on the facts particular to such
item and we cannot describe the expected impact in a meaningful way
or in the same way we could present known risks affecting our
business.
Forward-looking statements are presented for the purpose of
assisting investors and others in understanding our expected
financial position and results of operations as at the date of this
news release, as well as our objectives for the transaction,
strategic priorities and business outlook following the
transaction, and in obtaining a better understanding of our
anticipated operating environment following the transaction.
Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements may not
be appropriate for other purposes and undue reliance should not be
placed on these forward-looking statements.
The following risk factors are related to our intention to
acquire a majority interest in AAM that could have a material
adverse effect on our forward-looking statements: (i) the ability
of the parties to complete the transaction; (ii) the failure of the
parties to obtain necessary consents and approvals or to otherwise
satisfy the conditions to the completion of the transaction in a
timely manner, or at all; (iii) our ability to realize the
financial and strategic benefits of the transaction; (iv) the
impact of the announcement of the transaction; and (v) the
dedication of our resources to completing the transaction. Each of
these risks could have an impact on our business relationships
(including with future and prospective employees, clients,
distributors and partners) and could have a material adverse effect
on our current and future operations, financial conditions and
prospects. Other important risk factors that could cause our actual
results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by
the forward-looking statements in this presentation are set out in
our MD&A for the period ended June 30,
2022 and in Sun Life Financial Inc.'s other annual and
interim regulatory filings filed with Canadian securities
regulators or furnished to U.S. securities regulators, which are
available for review at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov,
respectively.
Sun Life does not undertake any obligation to update or revise
its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances
after the date of this news release or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events, except as required by law.
Sun Life Media
Relations Contact:
|
Sun Life Investor
Relations Contact:
|
Rajani
Kamath
|
Yaniv Bitton
|
Associate
Vice-President
|
Vice-President
|
Corporate
Communications
|
Investor Relations
& Capital Markets
|
647-515-7514
|
416-979-6464
|
rajani.kamath@sunlife.com
|
yaniv.bitton@sunlife.com
|
|
|
|
Paul Poon
|
|
Assistant
Vice-President
|
|
Investor
Relations
|
|
416-305-3389
|
|
Paul.poon@sunlife.com
|
|
|
SLC Management Media
RelationsContact:
|
Advisors Asset
Management Media Relations Contact:
|
Hannah
Stewart
|
Matthew Bono
|
Associate Director,
Communications
|
Account Executive,
JConnelly
|
416-557-4428
|
973-590-9110
|
hannah.stewart@slcmanagement.com
|
mbono@jconnelly.com
|
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sun-life-to-acquire-a-majority-stake-in-advisors-asset-management-301616828.html
SOURCE Sun Life Financial Inc.