Sun Life Financial announces the sale of its 37% interest in CI Financial

    Strongly positioned to take advantage of growth opportunities

    TORONTO, Oct. 6 /CNW/ - Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX/NYSE: SLF) today
announced the sale of its 37% interest in CI Financial Income Fund for
$2.3 billion to Scotiabank in an all cash, private transaction.
    Donald A. Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Sun Life Financial said, "Sun
Life is well positioned to take advantage of unprecedented opportunities
existing within the global financial services sector today. Unlocking CI's
value now provides Sun Life with enhanced firepower to aggressively pursue our
growth objectives."
    Rick Waugh, Scotiabank President and CEO, said, "Sun Life is the leading
distributor of CI mutual funds and the manufacturer of the highly successful
SunWise Elite Plus line of segregated funds. We look forward to building a
relationship with them."
    Bill Holland, Chief Executive Officer, CI Financial Income Fund, added,
"Our partnership with Sun Life has been highly successful in delivering
tremendous growth for both Sun Life and CI, and we look forward to our ongoing
strong product and distribution partnership. We welcome Scotiabank as a new
partner and look forward to working with them on new opportunities for
growth."
    Sun Life Financial continues to have industry-leading scale with over
$400 billion of assets under management as at June 30, 2008, and remains
committed to pursuing its growth strategy in asset management.
    The definitive agreement in respect of this transaction is subject to the
satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions, including the receipt
of all applicable regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close
in the fourth quarter.

    Analysts' Conference Call

    This announcement will be reviewed at a conference call on October 6,
2008 at 9 a.m. ET. Please call 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time as
follows:Local (Toronto): 416-915-5648
    Toll-free (North America): 800-732-0232To listen to the call via live audio webcast and to view the presentation
slides, please visit our website www.sunlife.com. A link to our webcast page,
where you can access the webcast will be provided, along with links to related
information. The webcast and presentation will be archived on our website
following the event.

    About CI Financial

    CI Financial Income Fund (TSX: CIX.UN) is an independent, Canadian-owned
wealth management company with approximately $99 billion in fee-earning assets
as of July 31, 2008. CI offers a broad range of investment products and
services, including an industry-leading selection of investment funds, and is
on the Web at www.ci.com/cix.

    About Scotiabank

    Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and
Canada's most international bank. With more than 60,000 employees, Scotiabank
Group and its affiliates serve approximately 12.5 million customers in some 50
countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a diverse range of products and
services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking.
With $453 billion in assets (as at April 30, 2008), Scotiabank trades on the
Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit
www.scotiabank.com.

    About Sun Life Financial

    Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services
organization providing a diverse range of protection and wealth accumulation
products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Chartered in
1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets
worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland,
Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda. As of
June 30, 2008, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets
under management of CDN$413 billion.
    Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and
Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under ticker symbol SLF.

    Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    Management evaluates the Company's performance on the basis of financial
measures prepared in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting
principles (GAAP), including earnings, EPS and ROE. Management also measures
the Company's performance based on certain non-GAAP measures, such as
operating earnings, operating EPS, operating ROE, ROE for business groups,
MFS's pre-tax operating profit margin ratios, financial performance measures
prepared on a constant currency basis and value of new business. Information
concerning these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to GAAP
measures are included in the Company's annual and interim Management's
Discussion and Analysis and its Supplementary Financial Information packages
that are available in the Investor Relations - Financial Publications section
of Sun Life Financial's website, www.sunlife.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    Certain statements in this document, including statements that are
predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or
conditions, or that include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends",
"plans", "believes", "estimates" or similar expressions, are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of securities laws. Forward-looking statements
include the information concerning possible or assumed future results of
operations of the Company. These statements represent the Company's
expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events and are not
historical facts. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties that are difficult to
predict. Future results and stockholder value may differ materially from those
expressed in these forward-looking statements due to, among other factors, the
matters set out under "Risk Factors" in the Company's AIF and the factors
detailed in its other filings with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators,
including its annual and interim MD&A, and financial statements, which are
available for review at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov.
    Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
expectations include, but are not limited to, the performance of equity
markets; interest rate fluctuations; investment losses and defaults; movements
in credit spreads; the cost, effectiveness and availability of risk mitigating
hedging programs; the creditworthiness of guarantors and counterparties to
derivatives; risks related to market liquidity; changes in legislation and
regulations including tax laws; regulatory investigations and proceedings and
private legal proceedings and class actions relating to practices in the
mutual fund, insurance, annuity and financial product distribution industries;
risks relating to product design and pricing; insurance risks including
mortality, morbidity, longevity and policyholder behaviour including the
occurrence of natural or man-made disasters, pandemic diseases and acts of
terrorism; risks relating to operations in Asia including risks relating to
joint ventures; currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of
competition; risks relating to financial modelling errors; business continuity
risks; failure of information systems and Internet enabled technology;
breaches of computer security and privacy; the availability, cost and
effectiveness of reinsurance; the inability to maintain strong distribution
channels and risks relating to market conduct by intermediaries and agents;
dependence on third party relationships including outsourcing arrangements;
downgrades in financial strength or credit ratings; the ability to
successfully complete and integrate acquisitions; the ability to attract and
retain employees; and the performance of the Company's investments and
investment portfolios managed for clients such as segregated and mutual funds.
The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise these
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date
of this report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as
required by law.

    Note to Editors: All figures in Canadian dollars.