Sun Life Financial Group Benefits strengthens its HealthyRETURNS program by investing in leading wellness provider, Buffett & Company

Oct 7, 2008

Strategic alliance provides workplace wellness and disease prevention
    tools and services to Sun Life Financial group plan sponsors and membersTORONTO, Oct. 7 /CNW/ - Sun Life Financial Group Benefits announced today
that it has made an investment in Buffett & Company Worksite Wellness Inc.
(Buffett & Company), one of Canada's leading providers of worksite wellness
programs. Buffett & Company will continue to operate as a stand-alone company,
headed by Ed Buffett, with Sun Life Financial holding a minority interest.
    "This investment underscores our commitment to help plan sponsors create
healthier, more productive workplaces and enable them to better control
benefit costs," said Dean Connor, President, Sun Life Financial Canada.
"Buffett & Company, one of Canada's leading health management providers,
offers a broad range of products and services that support Sun Life's
HealthyRETURNS program, and we are excited to be a part of its future."
    "We are thrilled that Sun Life Financial believes in the work we are
doing in helping Canadian employers promote healthy practices in their
workplaces," said Ed Buffett, President, Buffett & Company Worksite Wellness
Inc. "We look forward to continuing our work together and assisting Sun Life
to provide its plan sponsors with comprehensive health management strategies."
    HealthyRETURNS helps Group Benefits plan sponsors reduce health and
disability costs and build healthy workplaces. The investment allows Sun Life
Financial Group Benefits to provide plan sponsors with more programs,
particularly in the area of health promotion.
    Buffett & Company provides a wide variety of programs to help employees
and organizations identify and assess health risks and subsequently adopt and
sustain healthy lifestyle changes. Program offerings include screening
clinics, customized wellness websites, online personal and team health
challenges, onsite and online behaviour modification programs and educational
workshops, health fairs and flu clinics.

    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.

    About Buffett & Company Worksite Wellness Inc.

    Founded in 1981, Buffett & Company is one of Canada's leading providers
of comprehensive worksite wellness programs. It works with a broad spectrum of
public and private sector clients and offers services ranging from preliminary
assessment to strategic on-site support. Buffett & Company is a recipient of
the National Quality Institute's prestigious Canada Awards for Excellence and
was awarded the Gold Healthy Workplace Trophy, Small Organizations in 2005 and
will receive NQI's highest honour, the Order of Excellence, on October 20th,
2008.




For further information:

For further information: Krista Wilson, Manager, External
Communications, Sun Life Financial Canada, (519) 888-3900 x4896,
Krista.wilson@sunlife.com; Lori Casselman, Vice-President, Buffett & Company
Worksite Wellness Inc., (905) 666-1347 x225, lcasselman@buffettandcompany.com