Sun Life Financial and CI Investments announce new additions to SunWiseEssential Series

New investments offer more diversity with options of lower volatility or global exposure

TORONTO, April 13 /CNW/ - Sun Life Financial and CI Investments today announced the addition of 11 new investment options to the SunWise Essential Series lineup that offer the portfolio management expertise of Sun Life Global Investments and CI Investments.

SunWise Essential Series is a comprehensive, customizable segregated fund solution designed to effectively meet the investing, retirement, and estate planning needs of Canadian investors. Investors can choose from a wide variety of investment funds available in three classes with different guarantees: Income Class, Investment Class, and Estate Class.

"Creating secure income for their retirement years is a high priority for Canadians," says Kevin Dougherty, President, Sun Life Financial Canada. "The additions to the SunWise Essential Series give more choices to investors building portfolios and looking for the right combinations of assets to help meet their financial needs and reach their lifestyle goals."

The following investment options have been added to the SunWise Essential Series platform:

• Four stand-alone segregated funds and three segregated Bundles invested in underlying mutual funds managed by Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc. The funds focus on investments primarily outside of Canada and leverage the global expertise of MFS Investment Management as sub-advisor. The Bundles are rebalanced monthly to achieve a 70% equity-30% income allocation, based on the actual securities held in the funds. Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc. is a Sun Life Financial investment company offering a lineup of well-diversified funds and asset management solutions from around the world.
   
• Three new SunWise Essential Low Volatility Bundles combine a single equity fund with an income fund, and are rebalanced monthly to achieve a target 55% equity-45% income allocation. Low Volatility Bundles provide the potential for growth, diversification, and capital appreciation, while limiting portfolio volatility. The Bundles' target asset allocation is achieved by rebalancing based on the actual securities held in the underlying funds, rather than at the fund level.
   
• CI Select Income Advantage Managed Segregated Fund, which provides exposure to a diversified portfolio of government and corporate bonds, as well as to other income-generating investment strategies, including preferred shares, real estate investment trusts (REITs), and high-yielding equities. With this addition, SunWise Essential Series investors have access to seven income fund options.

"Diversification and outstanding money management are essential parts of any retirement investment plan," says Derek Green, President of CI Investments. "These additions increase the choices available in SunWise Essential Series to 85 funds and strengthen its award-winning manager lineup."

Segregated fund contracts provide insurance benefits that include potential creditor protection and powerful estate planning features. The new additions to SunWise Essential Series build on the experience and expertise of Sun Life Financial and CI Investments in providing segregated funds, with the two firms having more than $12.5 billion in segregated funds under management.

More information about SunWise Essential Series and these changes can be found at www.sunwiseessentialseries.com or from your financial advisor. SunWise Essential Series policies are issued by Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada and managed and administered by CI Investments. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada is a member of the Sun Life Financial group of companies.

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 December 31, 2010, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of $464 billion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.

About CI Investments
CI Investments Inc. is one of Canada's largest investment management companies. 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. CI is a subsidiary of CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX), an independent, Canadian-owned wealth management firm with $98.9 billion in assets as of March 31, 2011.