Sun Life Financial Inc. sees its biggest growth opportunities in the U.S. annuity business and in Asia, while its Canadian operations “should experience high-single-digit growth,” the company said Monday.

Sun Life Financial president James Prieur, said the U.S. annuities business is a weak spot but also provides “the greatest opportunity” as Sun Life expands its U.S. wholesaler relationships.

This year will be “the year of distribution” for Sun Life, Prieur said in a webcast of a presentation to a New York financial audience.

He said Sun Life has “the excess capital to pursue acquisitions that fit,” likely priced at under US$500 million and aimed at “getting bigger in the U.S. group business; we also have an interest in Asian businesses if the fit is right.”

Meanwhile, “our leadership position in Canada is the foundation on which we continue to grow our international business,” Prieur said. Sun Life’s Canadian operations include Clarica and 35% of CI Fund Management Inc.

Its biggest emerging market is India, where a venture with the Birla conglomerate has 9,500 agents in 40 cities.

In China, Sun Life’s venture with banking company China Everbright has obtained a group insurance licence and is expanding into a third city, Hangzhou.