Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – October 18, 2021 – As climate change and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues gain traction globally and locally, Sun Life Malaysia, a life insurance and Family Takaful provider, launched the country’s first investment-linked ESG fund, the Sun Life Malaysia Global Sustainable Fund, making it the first insurer in Malaysia to offer ESG investing choices to the insuring public.
Commenting on the new milestone, Raymond Lew, CEO and President/Country Head of Sun Life Malaysia shared that sustainability is essential to Sun Life’s long-term success and the Company’s sustainability agenda focuses on three key areas – sustainable investing, financial security and healthier lives.
“At Sun Life Malaysia, we always strive to lead by example. With this new ESG-themed fund, we are taking a leadership role in making ESG investing accessible and affordable to Malaysians through our investment-linked insurance products,” shared Raymond. “We aspire to engage with our Clients and help shift their mindsets – that is to invest with a purpose that will lead to sustainable returns. By giving them a choice to invest responsibly, we are empowering them to contribute towards building a healthier, more financially resilient, environmentally secure and economically prosperous world.”
The Sun Life Malaysia Global Sustainable Fund, is a collaboration between Sun Life Malaysia with Nomura Asset Management Malaysia Sdn Bhd. The investment-linked fund invests in a unit trust fund offered by Nomura Asset Management Malaysia. It is designed to provide its Clients, from all segments, an opportunity to support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while also safeguarding their own protection and financial needs through investment-linked insurance plans.
Clients can choose to invest in this Sustainable Fund when they purchase selected investment-linked products through both bancassurance and agency channels, namely SunLink Max, Sun Invest, Sun Income Secure Max; as well as Sun Shield Link and the new Sun Prestige Life which will be launched by end of this month.
Sustainable investing, which refers to ESG integration into investment decisions and portfolio construction, is growing exponentially in Asia. In fact, the pandemic has increased the adoption rate of ESG investing owing to increased awareness about corporate behaviour, business resilience and broader sustainability issues. Additionally, the rise of climate-related events over the past two years is driving increased focus on ESG issues.
For Sun Life Malaysia, ESG is more than investing to drive meaningful climate change actions. It serves as a critical lens to identifying strong investment opportunites towards building a low-carbon, sustainable economy. By embedding ESG lens into investments, it will lead to superior financial results over the long term. Sun Life’s commitment to embed ESG into its solutions and investment decisions sets to benefit both Clients’ assets and its own general account.
According to Lew, ESG investing offers a real solution for Clients to fulfil their protection goals as well as ethical and moral priorities, at the same time, it is proving to be a much more resilient investment choice during crisis.
“We believe ESG investing will be the new reality. By tapping these sustainable investment opportunities, we are enabling our Clients to take positive steps towards financial security, close protection gaps and at the same time, being part of a sustainable economy. We are proud to be leading the way with this first investment-linked ESG fund in Malaysia and we look forward to welcoming more like-minded Malaysians into our ESG journey,” Raymond concluded.
Sun Life Malaysia is part of Sun Life, a global financial services organisation. In 2020, Sun Life commited over CAD$60 billion in sustainable investments across its general account and third party investments (as at December 31, 2020). It also introduced a new ESG evaluation framework that helps Clients make informed decisions for sustainable investing through Sun Life's Canadian Group Retirement Services business.
In 2021, Corporate Knights named Sun Life as one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World for the 12th consecutive year. This is a clear testimony of the Group’s rigorous sustainability practices, especially in carbon productivity, clean revenue and board gender diversity.
Together, let's commit to a more sustainable future for all Malaysians. The new Sun Life Malaysia Global Sustainable Fund is now available for all Malaysians. For more information, visit www.sunlifemalaysia.com
