Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX:SLF) says it’s considering making new acquisitions in Asia, both within its existing footprint and in other countries in the ASEAN region.
“We’re certainly in the hunt,” said chief executive Dean Connor on Tuesday. “We’re certainly out talking to people.”
Connor said the insurance company is interested in the region, dubbed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, because of how quickly its economies are growing.
“We see a lot of opportunity to grow our business alongside that,” he said.
“We’re less focused on the more mature markets like Japan and South Korea and Taiwan.”
The insurance company already operates businesses in four out of the 10 ASEAN countries: Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Although Connor said Sun Life is considering “many, many opportunities” for new acquisitions both within those four countries and outside of them, the company’s primary focus is on growing its existing businesses.
In particular, Connor said Sun Life is focused on selling more insurance products and growing its private sector pension offerings in countries like India and China.
“There’s a lot of opportunity as people are pulled up from poverty into lower middle class,” said Connor.