Sun Life is looking beyond its own advisor network to grow its securities business, recruiting independent wealth practices as it seeks to build a bigger presence in Canadian wealth management.
“[We’re] talking to other advisors and firms, and we’re getting early wins of some larger wealth books from independents,” said Jack Mastromattei, president and ultimate designated person of Sun Life Canada Securities Inc. (SLCSI).
Mastromattei declined to say how many advisors have joined the dealer or disclose its assets under administration. But he said early results have made a “meaningful contribution to the overall wealth distribution number for Sun Life Canada.”
This external push marks the next stage of a growth strategy Sun Life began several years ago. The company’s wealth side includes Sun Life Financial Investment Services (Canada) Inc. (SLFISI) and the SLCSI arm, both of which operate under Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. Everything is ultimately under Sun Life Financial Inc.
The insurer obtained an investment dealer licence from the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) in 2023, adding to the existing SLFISI mutual fund dealer.
Sun Life piloted the securities business with a small number of salaried advisors in 2024 before officially launching SLCSI in 2025. At that time, Sun Life wanted to attract outside advisors but also felt the securities platform would allow its mutual fund advisors to meet more of their clients’ investment needs.
“We have heard from clients that … they don’t want to be in a position where we don’t have an offering and they have to go somewhere else,” Mastromattei said.
Its goals also included moving eligible advisors from the company’s mutual fund dealer onto the securities platform, if the advisors wished to do so.
The broad company’s ambitions to grow its market share in the wealth management space are part of the reason it’s now rated by its advisors in the Investment Executive (IE) Dealers’ Report Card. The company’s IE rating for 2026 is 7.6 out of 10, based on advisors’ reviews of how well Sun Life is supporting them and their businesses across 23 categories. (Access the full downloadable results.)
Extending the internal pipeline
Most of the approximately 2,700 advisors in SLFISI are licensed in insurance and mutual funds, Mastromattei said, with the company saying in an emailed statement 100% are insurance-licensed and 87% are also mutual fund-licensed. They have an open wealth shelf.
They collectively manage $63.2 billion in investment assets, as of July 31 and including segregated funds.
“There’s a cohort [of those advisors] that is more focused on wealth and have decided to start making their move up to the securities dealer so they can expand their practice,” Mastromattei said.
Expanding the business supports Sun Life’s goal of providing holistic financial advice to clients, said Reggie Alvares, president and ultimate designated person of SLFISI. It gives Sun Life a way to retain advisors whose businesses are becoming more complex and moving into higher wealth segments.
But not all advisors are interested in switching from Sun Life’s mutual fund platform to its securities platform, Mastromattei said. For advisors who want to remain with the mutual fund dealer, Sun Life has a small team of salaried securities-licensed advisors who can serve clients requiring securities products.
“The next priority is to partner with our SLFISI advisors and help them understand how to utilize these new [securities] capabilities,” Mastromattei said. “There is an opportunity for them to refer some of their clients over to our internal team [at SLCSI] to at least help those clients with individual securities.”
Looking outside its solar system
With its internal pipeline in place, Sun Life is turning to external recruitment.
Sun Life is reaching independent advisors by participating in more industry events and encouraging advisors to become peer advocates, Alvares said.
SLCSI isn’t necessarily looking for practices with the largest books. It’s looking for holistic financial advisors serving clients with both wealth and life and health insurance products, Mastromattei said. Sun Life also wants growth-oriented advisors whose practices can grow with the dealer.
Many of the independent advisors Mastromattei has spoken to are primarily focused on wealth and aren’t insurance licensed, he said.
Still, Mastromattei said Sun Life’s insurance capabilities are part of the package.
“Even if they don’t want to become [insurance] licenced or don’t want to focus their practice there, we can provide resources to help them grow their practice,” Mastromattei said. Those advisors can refer clients to insurance-licenced colleagues when an insurance need arises, adding potential depth to their services they may not have had independently.
Mastromattei said SLCSI’s compensation is “competitive,” though he declined to provide its payout grid. He positioned the payout from the securities arm as being higher than those offered by bank-owned dealers but not quite as high as those of some independent dealers who can pay upwards of 90%. SLCSI leans toward the higher end of the range.
Previously, Alvares said that the payout grid for Sun Life’s mutual fund business starts in the high 60% range and tops out around 80%, scaling with productivity.
The firm noted in emailed statement that advisors can also earn bonuses tied to aspects their completion of client financial plans. “These bonuses are incorporated in the range provided above,” the company said.
More than an insurance company
As Sun Life pushes further into wealth management, it’s also working to establish a reputation that goes beyond its roots.
“Everybody’s got a different interpretation of who we are. A lot of Canadians see us as an insurance company [or] a benefits provider,” Mastromattei said.
Mastromattei added that Sun Life’s reputation in wealth has grown in the four years since he joined the company, but he acknowledged there is still work to do.
Alvares agreed, saying, “We need to emphasize the wealth brand across Canada at the advisor level.” Changing the traditional perception of the firm will require their help, as the firm gains advocates and broadens its reach.