Sun Life Financial and CI Investments Thursday announced several enhancements to the SunWise Essential Series segregated fund program, including the option to receive a guaranteed income for life as early as age 55.
Other changes include the launch of 14 new funds, and the addition of CI Private Investment Management, a program designed to meet the needs of higher net worth investors.
With the program, investors can choose from a wide variety of investment funds available in three classes with different guarantees to serve different objectives: Income Class, Investment Class and Estate Class.
“Income security in retirement is an issue of growing importance to Canadians, and SunWise Essential Series is an effective way to create a guaranteed lifetime retirement income,” says Kevin Dougherty, president, Sun Life Financial Canada. “Clients can choose additional funds, including seven funds with access to the investment expertise of Sun Life Global Investments, providing clients with greater flexibility to help them achieve their financial goals.”
“With the changes announced today, SunWise Essential Series is even more flexible and can be easily customized to meet the needs of a wide range of people. In particular, we are pleased to combine the benefits of SunWise Essential Series with CI Private Investment Management, a new program for higher net worth investors,” says Derek Green, president of CI Investments.
The changes to SunWise Essential Series include the addition of the Lifetime Withdrawal Amount (LWA) at Age 55 for Income Class. This gives clients the flexibility to start receiving guaranteed income as early as age 55, versus age 65 previously.
In addition, SunWise Essential Series clients gain access to CI Private Investment Management, which is designed to enhance client portfolios from a tax, asset allocation and cost perspective and is subject to a minimum investment of $100,000.
The 14 funds added to the SunWise lineup offer access to portfolio management teams from Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc., as well as Black Creek Investment Management and Cambridge Advisors.
SunWise Essential Series contracts are issued by Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada and managed and administered by CI Investments.