Sun Life Financial and CI Investments announce new features for SunWise Essential Series, including guaranteed income for life starting at age 55

TORONTO, Jan. 19, 2012 /CNW/ - Sun Life Financial and CI Investments today 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 unique needs of higher net worth investors.

SunWise Essential Series is a comprehensive, customizable segregated fund solution designed to meet the investment, retirement and estate planning needs of Canadians. 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."

"The guarantees provided by SunWise Essential Series offer powerful benefits to Canadians, including the ability to invest with peace of mind during volatile markets," said Derek Green, President of CI Investments. "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."

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.
• Providing SunWise Essential Series clients with access to CI Private Investment Management (PIM). PIM is designed to enhance client portfolios from a tax, asset allocation and cost perspective and is subject to a minimum investment of $100,000.
• More investment choices. Fourteen funds have been added to the SunWise Essential Series lineup, offering access to portfolio management teams from Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc., as well as Black Creek Investment Management and Cambridge Advisors.

Segregated fund contracts provide insurance benefits that include guarantees, potential creditor protection and 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 $11.8 billion in segregated funds under management.

More information about SunWise Essential Series and these changes can be found at www.sunwiseessentialseries.com or from financial advisors. SunWise Essential Series contracts 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 September 30, 2011, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of $459 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 $91 billion in assets as of December 31, 2011.