New Sun Life Funds Add Maturity Unit Value Guarantee

April 19, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Toronto-based Sun Life Financial has unveiled the Milestone series of lifecycle funds for workplace retirement plans, which Sun claimed are the first in Canada to guarantee a unit value at maturity.

A Sun Life news release said that the Milestone Funds enhance the typical lifestyle fund concept by adding a guarantee available at fund maturity of the highest month-end unit value achieved over the life of a Fund.

Seven Milestone Funds will be offered with maturity dates of 2010, 2015, 2020, 2025, 2030, 2035 and 2040, meeting various investment time horizons, the company said. Participants choose the fund closest to their planned retirement date.

“While traditional lifecycle funds aren’t new in Canada, the concept of a guaranteed maturity value is new for the group retirement services market,” said Rick Headrick, Assistant Vice-President, Investment Services, in the news release. “With the Milestone Funds, investors are guaranteed to receive at maturity an amount determined using at least the Funds’ inception unit price, or, if the Fund reaches a higher month-end unit price over its lifetime, that higher unit price.”

«