Okay, good afternoon. [Foreign language] . Finally, my name is Kevin Strain, and I am President and CEO for Sun Life. Welcome to the annual meeting for Sun Life Financial shareholders and the annual meeting for Sun Life Assurance voting policyholders. I'd like to respectfully pause to acknowledge the land on which I'm speaking to you from, and consider the indigenous nations of whom we share territories and responsibilities. This is the land of the Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations. It's also known as Toronto, and for me and many of you, this is where we get to call home. This is treaty territory, and I am not indigenous. My grandparents settled here from Scotland and benefited from living on this land as treaty people.
I'm thankful to be able to live here and work here as a result of this treaty, and that I've been able to raise my family in this community. In light of the history of our land and in the spirit of partnership and reconciliation, I'm committed to do more to support meaningful change for Indigenous peoples. And as the CEO of Sun Life, I have a responsibility and an opportunity to contribute to the healing and reconciliation process. An organization - as an organization, Sun Life is taking action and supporting initiatives that make a positive difference as part of our reconciliation journey. We began our work on our Progressive Aboriginal Relations or PAR certification in 2021, and I'm pleased to share that we recently passed phase three of the committed status and are on track to apply for PAR certification in about a year.
Moving forward, Sun Life is making a number of commitments, including creating an Indigenous employee representation goal, defining an Indigenous supplier diversity goal, and increasing our philanthropic spend for Indigenous communities. Along the journey to reconciliation, it's important we don't make the mistake of presuming that Indigenous peoples want. Instead, we want to follow a nothing about you without you approach. To this end, we've hired an Indigenous relations director to build knowledge and understanding within Sun Life and to create relationships with Indigenous communities. We still have work to do, but I'm proud of the steps Sun Life is taking along this journey for Indigenous reconciliation. Now, I'd like to turn the meeting over to Scott Powers, Sun Life's Chair.
Thank you, Kevin, and I'm pleased to extend a warm welcome to everyone joining us today. As the notices of the meeting have been duly given and a quorum is present, I call to order the annual meeting of Sun Life Financial Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. Business growth is the engine that fuels progress in society today, propelling economies, inspiring innovation, and enabling meaningful client experiences. With exceptional capabilities behind it, business growth encourages investment, supports digital leadership, and contributes to a purpose-driven approach. Bottom line is that business growth creates a positive impact for all Sun Life stakeholders. Throughout Sun Life's history, growth has been a central theme, and it will continue to be well into the future.
The demand for alternative investments, a growing Asian middle class, expected to be 1 billion by 2030, increased demand for preventative health and wellness solutions, and the transfer of wealth between generations, all are runways of opportunity for our four strategic pillars: asset management, our Canadian business, our US business, and our business in Asia. Sun Life has grown organically and through disciplined acquisitions and strategic partnerships, including Dialogue Health Technologies, Scotiabank, and Pillway here in Canada, and bank assurance partnerships like Dah Sing Bank in Hong Kong. Our shareholders tell us they appreciate our stability and our strength. They see the rewards through growth in the marketplace. In 2023, our total return performance to shareholders was over 14%, and over a 10-year period, we achieved total shareholder return of 10.4%, placing us in the top quartile of our global peers.
Growth is not only measured in our financial results or our transactions, it's also measured by the impact we make and have on our clients, particularly how we're delivering on our purpose to help them achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. During Kevin's presentation, you'll hear from one of our clients and the impact that we've made on, in his life. While we continue to weather economic and market uncertainties, geopolitical risks, climate change, and industry-related challenges, thanks to our prudent risk management and financial discipline, our balance sheet and capital position remain strong. On a personal note, I'm proud to lead our board of directors, who bring a depth of experience and expertise to their roles at Sun Life, providing strong governance, disciplined risk management, and strategic oversight, and ensuring that management is accountable for the delivery of strong business results.
I do want to take a moment to highlight one of our board members sitting in the first row here, Barbara Stymiest. At the conclusion of this meeting, Barb, who is Sun Life's longest-serving board member, will retire after twelve years of service. Barb has been an exceptional board member for Sun Life and has been engaged in many pivotal moments in the last decade, including the building out of our asset management business through several acquisitions to create Sun Life Capital Management, to DentaQuest, to our more than 25 high-quality bank assurance deals in Asia, and to supporting the company's resilience through the pandemic. She is a trailblazer in finance and business, an extraordinary community leader, and an inspiration to many... On behalf of the Sun Life board and the Sun Life executive team, Barb, thank you for your leadership, your experience, your expertise.
We wish you the very, very best. Thank you, Barb. And to our clients, thank you for your ongoing trust in our capabilities, and to our shareholders and policyholders, for your confidence and commitment. Sun Life was built on a foundation of strong values, a caring culture, and a meaningful purpose: to help our clients achieve lifetime security and live healthier lives, and an ambition to be the best. It is this foundation that supports our thoughtful and disciplined approach to everything we do. With that, I'll now move to deal with some procedural matters. Our meeting is being held in both an in-person and a virtual format, and is being recorded. As a courtesy to all in attendance, I ask that you silence your phones and any other electronic devices for the duration of the meeting.
I will also wish to advise you that the proceedings are being webcast and recorded, and in accordance with Sun Life's bylaws, I will chair the two meetings. Kevin Strain will join me once again, and joining us is Troy Krushel, vice president, associate general counsel, and corporate secretary. Troy will act as secretary of the meetings. We are hosting the meeting and broadcasting live from Sun Life's headquarters in Toronto. Also in the room with me today are my Sun Life colleagues on the Sun Life board that are based in Toronto and members of our executive team and senior management. I'll now outline today's proceedings and go through some procedural matters.
We are holding two meetings today, the annual meeting of common shareholders of Sun Life Financial, and the annual meeting of voting policyholders and the sole shareholder of Sun Life Assurance. There will be two sets of formal business, one for each company. After all the votes are taken, Kevin will provide an update on Sun Life's business progress and the company's priorities. A joint question and answer period will be held after the formal portion of the meeting has been completed, and we will conduct the business of Sun Life Financial first, and then Sun Life Assurance. Only registered shareholders, voting policyholders, and duly appointed proxy holders who have standing at the meeting will be able to address the meeting and ask questions during the formal conduct of business.
For those attending virtually, you can ask a question at any time during the meeting by clicking on the messaging icon on the platform and following the instructions. To allow us to address your question at the appropriate time, please submit the question as early as possible and identify whether it relates to a motion being considered as part of the formal business, or whether it's more general in nature. If you'd like to address the meeting by phone, please click the Request to Speak button below the broadcast. Follow the prompts that allow access to your microphone and speaker, and you'll be able to listen to the meeting while waiting. When called upon to ask your question, you'll hear a beep, after which you will be unmuted. When your remarks are concluded, click the Return to Broadcast button to resume watching as before.
If you would prefer to submit your question in writing, do not include your phone number and submit your full question in the messaging box. Troy, our corporate secretary, will receive your written question and read it out at the appropriate time. For those attending in person, please approach one of the microphones that are stationed around the room to ask a question at the appropriate time. Please give your name and state whether you are a shareholder, a policyholder, or a proxyholder, and direct all of your questions to me as chair of the meeting. You will have up to three minutes to state your comment or question, and I ask that you only ask one question each time you're recognized. Each item of business will be open for questions or comments before a vote is taken.
If your question does not relate to the items of business on the agenda, it will not be addressed until the joint question and answer period at the end. Written questions may be paraphrased in the interest of efficiency in addressing as many questions as possible. Please rest assured, we will not be attempting to limit or filter legitimate questions, and we'll do our best to address all the issues raised. Please also adhere to the meeting protocol outlined in the agenda, in keeping to the appropriateness and the relevance to the meeting. I will use my discretion as circumstances dictate, to direct the meeting accordingly. Like last year, registered shareholders, voting policyholders, and proxy holders attending virtually who wish to vote at the meeting, we will be able to vote on each motion by online poll instead of in-person ballot.
In-person voting will be conducted by ballot, and the ballots were provided to you at registration. The yellow ballot is to be used for shareholders for the items on the Sun Life Financial agenda, and the pink ballot will be used by voting policyholders for the items on the Sun Life Assurance agenda. If you do not have a ballot and wish to receive one, please raise your hand and one will be provided to you. As in past years, most votes were cast in advance of the meeting by proxy and through the various available channels, with only a small number opting to vote their shares at the meeting.
On a poll, every shareholder entitled to vote, entitled to vote on the matter has one vote in respect to, of each share entitled to be voted and held by that shareholder, and every voting policyholder has one vote. The poll will be open for all resolutions at the same time. This will allow you to choose to vote on each resolution immediately, or wait until the conclusion of questions or comments submitted on each resolution prior to casting your vote... You may vote at any time until the last item of business has been put to a vote, and I declare the voting closed. If you have voted in advance of your meeting, of the meeting, and you do not wish to revoke your previously submitted proxies, then you do need, do not need to do anything at the meeting.
Once the poll is closed, the preliminary results of votes cast and proxies received prior to the meeting will be provided to Troy, and he will read them out to the meeting, and the final results will be posted on our website. To facilitate proceedings, I've asked Troy, who is also a duly appointed proxy holder, to move the motions related to the election of directors, the appointment of the auditor, and the advisory vote on executive compensation. I now appoint TSX Trust Company by its representatives, Pat Lee and Jennifer Anderson, to act as scrutineers for each meeting. I have the preliminary attendance report of the scrutineers. There are 5,392 shareholders holding 322,585,400 common shares of Sun Life Financial, represented by proxy.
This represents 55.3% of the issued and outstanding common shares as of the record date of March 15th, 2024. There are 4,447 voting policyholders of Sun Life Assurance, represented by proxy. This represents 16.9% of the voting policyholders who asked to receive the materials for this meeting as of the record date of March 15th, 2024. The sole shareholder of Sun Life Assurance, Sun Life Financial, is represented by proxy. A quorum is present for each meeting, and I declare these meetings to be properly constituted and declare the polls open on all resolutions. Our auditor, Deloitte LLP, is represented today by Anthony Cocuzzo and Chantal Leclerc. Copies of the auditor's report and the annual financial statements of Sun Life Financial were published and sent to the shareholders who requested them.
We would be pleased to take any questions on the annual financial statements of Sun Life Financial at this time. An opportunity to submit questions about the annual financial statements of Sun Life Assurance will be provided later in the meeting. Please hold questions unrelated to the annual financial statements to the general question and answer period. Troy, are there any questions or comments from participants on the annual financial statements?
Chair, there are no questions on the annual financial statements.
Okay, we will now proceed to the election of directors of Sun Life Financial, and I'll ask Troy to nominate the individuals proposed for election as directors.
I'm pleased to nominate the following individuals to serve as directors of Sun Life Financial Inc. until the close of the next annual meeting or until their successors are elected or appointed: Deepak Chopra, Stephanie Coyles, Ashok Gupta, Mary Ann Harris, David Ho, Laurie Hylton, H. Malvi Hicks, Marie-Lucie Morin, Joseph M. Natale, Scott Powers, and Kevin Strain.
Thank you, Troy. The company did not receive advance notice of any other nominations of directors, and therefore I declare the nominations closed. Troy, are there any questions or comments from participants on the nominations?
Chair, there were no questions or comments on the nominations.
Thank you, Troy. Shareholders attending virtually may now proceed to vote on the election of directors of Sun Life Financial by selecting your choice on your display screen. Shareholders attending in person now proceed to vote will now proceed to vote on the election of directors of Sun Life Financial using the yellow ballot. We will collect the ballots at the end of the Sun Life Financial business. As a reminder, if you've already voted and sent it or sent in a proxy, there's no need to do anything unless you'd like to change your vote. Please vote now. Looks like we're at least in the room, everybody is satisfied with their choices. The next item on the agenda is the appointment of our auditor, and I will ask Troy to make the appropriate motion.
I'm pleased to move that Deloitte LLP be appointed the auditor of Sun Life Financial Inc. until the close of the next annual meeting.
Thank you, Troy. Are there any questions or comments from participants on the appointment of the auditor?
Hello, my name is Richard Sambrook, policyholder, shareholder, and my question is really looking at the audit fees, and it's not about the appointment itself. I guess it's last year we entered this whole period of IFRS 17, and of course, that included a lot of work. So the fees jumped by more than 50%. And it was explained at that time that there was a lot of retrospective work that had to go on. So having been a former CA myself, I realize that sort of gives you the opening balance, and then my expectation this year was that we would go back to sort of regular audit fees moving forward. So I can be in error, would like to understand and wonder what the expectation is going forward. So.
I appreciate it's a very complicated issue. Thank you.
So Mr. Sambrook, I'll ask Kevin to take a shot at that, and he'll reach out if he needs help.
Well, thanks, Scott. And Richard, you're sitting right beside the auditor, so place you perfectly to help with our negotiations. You know, it is primarily that in 2023, we did see higher costs related to IFRS 17. IFRS 17 is actually the largest project the company's ever done. We replaced all of our financial systems and a whole new accounting methodology, including IFRS 9. So there was costs related to that that were part of 2023, which you've recognized. Each year, the fees do fluctuate. We see different projects. Sometimes there'll be a big M&A or other things, but we do expect that next year, the fees will come down because there won't be a repeat of some of the IFRS 17 costs.
But we do manage these costs really closely, and I'm sure Tony will tell you, we push the auditors on the cost, and we do look at it really closely. But we're happy you're sitting beside him, and you can whisper in his ear that next year, they need to come down. Thank you.
Troy, any other questions on the election of auditors?
Chair, there are no further questions or comments on the appointment of the auditor.
Shareholders attending virtually will now proceed to vote on the appointment of the auditor of Sun Life Financial by selecting your choice on the display screen. Shareholders attending in person will now proceed to vote on the appointment of the auditor of Sun Life Financial using the yellow ballot, and we will collect the ballots at the end of the Sun Life Financial business. Again, if you've already voted or sent in a proxy, there's no need to do anything unless you'd like to change your vote. Please vote now. The next item of Sun Life Financial business is an advisory vote on the approach to executive compensation disclosed in the management information circular. The resolution is set out on page 10 of the circular, and I'll now ask Troy to make a motion approving this resolution.
I move that the resolution, the full text of which is set out on page 10 of the Management Information Circular, dated March fifteenth, 2024, be adopted by the shareholders of Sun Life Financial Inc.
Thank you, Troy. Are there any questions or comments from participants on the advisory vote on the approach to executive compensation?
Chair, there were no questions online or comments on the advisory vote on the approach to executive compensation.
Thank you, Troy. Shareholders attending virtually will now proceed with the advisory vote on the executive compensation using the online poll, and shareholders attending in person will now proceed to vote on the approach to executive compensation using the yellow ballot. We will collect the ballots at the end of the Sun Life Financial business. If you have already voted or sent in a proxy, again, there is no need to do anything unless you'd like to change your vote. Please vote now. I think we're in good shape. The scrutineers will now collect the yellow ballots, please. Please ensure you've printed and signed your name on the ballot and pass the ballot down to the end of your row, and the scrutineers will collect them. Okay, thank you very much. We'll now proceed with the items of business for the annual meeting of Sun Life Assurance.
The audited annual financial statements for Sun Life Assurance were mailed to voting policyholders who requested them. Troy, are there any questions or comments from participants on the annual financial statements?
Chair, there are no questions online about the annual financial statements.
Thank you. The next item of business is the election of directors of Sun Life Assurance. In accordance with the Insurance Companies Act, at least one-third of the directors must be elected by voting policyholders only. Four of the eleven independent directors, Deepak Chopra, Stephanie Coyles, Marie-Lucie Morin, and myself, Scott Powers, have proposed as nominees for election as policyholder directors. Troy, will you please nominate the individuals proposed?
I'm pleased to nominate Deepak Chopra, Stephanie Coyles, Marie-Lucie Morin, and Scott Powers to serve as policyholders directors of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada until the close of the next annual meeting.
The company did not receive any advance notice of any other nominations of policyholder directors, and therefore, I declare the nominations closed. Troy, are there any questions or comments from participants on the nominations?
Chair, there are no questions online or comments on the nominations.
Thank you. Policyholders attending virtually will now proceed to vote on the election of policyholder directors for Sun Life Assurance using the online poll. Shareholders attending in person will now proceed to vote on the election of directors of Sun Life Assurance using the pink ballot. We will collect the ballots at the end of the business of Sun Life Assurance. Again, if you've already voted or sent in a proxy, there's no need to do anything unless you'd like to change your vote. Please vote now. I now turn to the election of shareholder directors by the sole shareholder of Sun Life Assurance, being Sun Life Financial. Seven shareholder directors are proposed for the election.
Sun Life Financial has, by written resolution, elected the following shareholder directors to serve until the close of the annual meeting to be held in 2025: Ashok Gupta, Mary Ann Harris, David Ho, Laurie Hilton, Helen Milov-Malavoy-Hicks, Joseph Natoli, and Kevin Strain. The next item on the agenda is the appointment of our auditor, and I'll ask Troy to make the appropriate motion.
I'm pleased to move that Deloitte LLP be appointed the auditor of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada until the close of the next annual meeting.
Thank you, Troy. Are there any questions or comments from participants on the appointment of the auditor?
Why don't we have two separate auditors?
Kevin?
T he auditors look at the full scope of the company, and SLA is actually part of SLF, and so there's a lot of pieces that sort of come together, so it's much more efficient to have one auditor of both companies. Oh, it's, I think it's— there's such a tie of the two and the auditors look at both independently, and there's really not a conflict between the two parts of the company. So we can take it further offline if you would like, sir, afterwards. We actually have the auditors here with us, so we'd be happy to have that discussion.
Okay, I don't really care.
Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for your question.
Troy, any other questions?
Sure. There are no other questions online.
Okay. Policyholders attending virtually will now proceed to vote on the appointment of the auditor of Sun Life Assurance, again, using the online poll. Policyholders attending in person will now proceed to vote on the appointment of the auditor of Sun Life Assurance using the pink ballot, and we'll collect the ballots at the end of Sun Life Assurance business. And again, I'll remind you, if you've already voted or sent in a proxy, there's no need to do anything unless you'd like to change your vote. Please vote now. For those of you who have not voted on all the resolutions, please do so now, as I will shortly close the poll. I'll close the polls on all resolutions in one minute to allow online viewers to catch up. I'm always amazed at how long 60 seconds takes when you're waiting.
The polls are now closed, and the scrutineers will now collect the pink ballots. Please ensure that you have printed and signed your name on your ballot. Pass the ballot down to the end of your row to be collected. While we await the preliminary report of the scrutineers, Kevin will provide an update on Sun Life's business progress in 2023 and talk about the company's future and its priorities. Kevin, over to you.
Thanks, Scott. I want to start with a personal story. It's a story about my grandmother and one of the many ways that she had a strong impact on my life. The photo you see on the screen is of me, my mom, my grandmother, and my grandfather. My grandmother helped me finance my first years of university, a gesture she didn't think twice about at the time, but one of generosity that had an immeasurable impact on my life. It opened the door to a world of opportunities, challenges, and achievements. It allowed me to pursue my passion and to grow as a person. One of the lessons I took was learning about the importance of planning for the future at an early age, and more importantly, it influenced me to make an impact on the lives of others.
For me, that story relates directly to what we do at Sun Life. We recognize that having an impact on the lives of others is not just a noble aspiration, but a shared commitment across our global organization. We're a company with a deep purpose, helping clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. Our purpose drives all of us at Sun Life to do better for our clients each and every day. We understand that living healthy and being financially secure are not just personal goals, but societal goals. We measure our success not just in terms of financial metrics or market share, but by the positive difference we make in the lives of our clients, employees, and communities. Every solution we create, every service we offer, every decision we make, is driven by two questions: Does it align to our purpose? And does it make an impact?
Two years ago, we introduced our client impact strategy with a commitment to make an impact on the lives of others by delivering bolder financial and health outcomes. We're also equally driven to be a great place to work, and we're proud of our engaging work culture. Sun Life's culture is our superpower. It influences how we deliver on our purpose and inspires us to give our best every day. It's the foundation for building a caring company with a caring culture. Living our purpose, being a great place to work, and contributing to our communities creates value for our shareholders and impact for our clients. An important part of our client impact strategy is helping people live a healthy life and accessing the care they need. Health is not only a human right, but also a key driver of economic and social development.
Healthier, healthier people are more productive, more resilient, and more engaged in their communities. It also drives lower healthcare costs, which benefits individuals and society. We also know not everyone has the same opportunities to access healthcare. There are barriers such as affordability, availability, accessibility, and awareness. Sun Life is committed to doing our part to help our clients and communities overcome these barriers in four areas. First, acting as a payer of health benefits and claims in Canada, the U.S., and in Asia. Second, helping clients navigate complex healthcare systems. Third, providing wellness programs and information, and finally, helping to ensure access to care for all.... We've expanded our leadership position in Canada through our acquisition of Dialogue Health Technologies, our premier virtual healthcare and wellness platform.
We also know oral health is critical to overall health and wellness, and that's why we've invested to grow our depth and scope in this important area. DentaQuest, our dental benefits provider in the U.S., is a great example of how we provide access to care. Our dental business has approximately 36 million members, many of them in underserved communities. Here in Canada, we finalized a contract with the federal government to be the administrator of the Canadian Dental Care Plan, which will provide access to dental care for up to 9 million Canadians in need. Thank you. Thank you. Well, well, let's take a moment and see what this plan will mean for Canadians, and we have a short video.
Life is about memorable firsts. It's about the moments that matter and the ones we'll never forget. It's about first steps, your first home together, your first set of wheels, your first promotion, your first time holding your grandchild, your first visit under the Canadian Dental Care Plan. Even though we're nearly 160 years old, at Sun Life, we're still experiencing memorable firsts. We recently paid the first claim as administrator of the government's new Canadian Dental Care Plan. This dental plan will help millions of Canadians across the country receive access to the oral health care they need, whether it's their first filling or getting their dentures repaired. The Canadian Dental Care Plan wouldn't be possible without the thousands of participating oral health providers doing what they do best, providing essential care and helping smiles shine.
Here's to many more firsts and helping Canadians live healthier lives from coast to coast.
Yeah, and I'm pleased to report our first claim was processed on May the first for a senior in Newfoundland who received a dental exam and X-rays. In Asia, we've introduced eSunPro in Hong Kong. This digital health platform offers comprehensive care with access to advanced treatment and support throughout the recovery process. As a champion of access to care, we're proud to make a positive impact on the health of our clients, communities, and society through countless actions and interactions. Like one of our DentaQuest members, William, who experienced compassionate care with a personal touch from our team. Let's take a look at William's story.
William Wisniewski. My wife was having teeth issues, and when we called DentaQuest, we got a hold of Carrie.
My name is Carrie Cook, and I am a case manager with DentaQuest. Came from a dental public health background. I came into this job because I knew that it would allow me to use my dental knowledge to assist other people to be able to access dental care, as well as to help them gain a better understanding of the importance of oral health to good overall health.
When Carrie got involved, my wife came down sick.
She asked me if I would be able to help her husband. I said, "Oh, well, is he Medicaid?" And she says, "Yes." I worked their case management case as a single case. I worked them together.
My wife came down as terminal.
She passed away in December of 2022. I knew that without support, Mr. Wisniewski would be in trouble, based on his health history.
I have heart issues, and I had a heart attack.
The last thing that he would want to be bothered with is to pick up the phone to call and make an appointment.
Oh, that was the furthest thing from my mind is to get my teeth pulled.
He's in mourning. He's experiencing grief.
She wanted me to keep on going. I was still gonna live and move on.
Right after she passed away, about once a week, I would pick up the phone and call him. "Is there anything you need? Have you seen the doctor? Okay, what's next?" At this point, it was just a matter of not letting go of him.
She was gonna stick with me no matter what, to complete what, what we started. I don't know what else to say, but that she's a fantastic woman, and you need more like her.
Excited?
Yes, I'm excited. He's the first plan member that I've ever had a chance to meet.
Hey, Mr. Wisniewski!
We got a surprise for you.
It's Carrie from DentaQuest. Oh.
She done so much for us, and she didn't have to. I mean, it was just a job. I get off the phone with you sometimes, and I said, "Phew, I'm glad I have her." None of this would have happened. I mean, I hope she's like this with every... I know she's like this with every one of her clients. It brought me right out of it. It really did.
Remember, I would say to you, "Am I pestering you?
I said, "Never." She told me, "Never give up," and I didn't, and I'm doing good now.
We shifted your focus, didn't we?
Yes, you did. This has impacted my whole life to where I have a new beginning, and it all started with a woman helping me get my teeth fixed.
It's stories like these that motivate us when we come to work each and every day, and we have 85 million clients like William that we help out all around the world, and we're pleased to report that William is continuing to focus on his health. He's working with Carrie and our DentaQuest team, and he's doing well. As CEO, I connect with clients regularly and get their feedback about what we're doing well and where there's room for improvement. Not all clients are the same, but they have similarities in their expectations. They want us to understand them and deliver solutions that meet their needs. They want their interactions to be effortless. They want us to be there and where they want us to be. Digital leadership powers our ability to deliver on client needs and our purpose.
We began our digital journey by modernizing our tools and technology and how we work together. Now, we increasingly use digital to support our clients' health and wealth journeys. We're leveraging digital partnerships and modern capabilities and innovation to think and act more like a digital company. Almost half of all our clients need medication to treat chronic conditions, so we're helping clients better manage and keep track of prescriptions and refills through our digital Lumino Health Pharmacy, which can bring medications straight to their doorstep. Our Sun Life US Group Benefits business redesigned the client onboarding process, replacing many steps with simple digital site. This helped reduce time, costs, and provided a great impression for clients working with Sun Life, and we're unleashing the power of generative AI through investments in this technology. In our US call centers, we're using generative AI to analyze calls and provide client insights.
It's helping us improve workplace productivity, freeing up our teams so they can focus on strategic work. In Vietnam, our digital submissions platform uses enhanced digital capabilities like e-signing and AI for facial recognition to provide a more secure and seamless experience for advisors and clients. We're also innovating through strategic partnerships and investments. In Asia, we're working with Bowtie, Hong Kong's first virtual insurer, to make insurance more affordable and accessible. Last year, we increased our investment in Bowtie, and since our partnership began five years ago, we've seen steady growth of digital distribution and sales. Bank insurance is another important part of our strategy in Asia. For example, our 15-year partnership with Dah Sing Bank in Hong Kong contributed to record sales last year in a highly competitive market. This is one of our more than 25 quality bank insurance partnerships across Asia.
On the asset management side, SLC Management is extending our world-class alternative investment capabilities to more clients. We completed a majority acquisition of Advisor Asset Management, a leading independent US retail distribution firm, and in Canada, we increased distribution through a strategic partnership with Scotiabank. MFS announced plans to launch its first active exchange traded funds, adding more choice and options for clients to access long-term value. This complements their mutual fund business, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. With all that we've accomplished in the past year and the exciting future ahead for us, we want to be recognized as a company that cares for our clients, cares for each other, and cares for the future of our society. Company culture matters and has a direct impact on how we execute on our strategy.
The way we work, how we treat one another, how we make decisions, and the actions we take allow us to deliver on our strategy and differentiate us as an employer of choice. It shows up in how we support our clients every day and with every interaction. Our leaders also play an important role in nurturing our culture. I'm proud of the global and client-focused mindset of our diverse leadership team. They bring the best thinking and ideas from around the world to derive our strategies and execute to new heights. We're investing in our brand and our brand identity, driving strong performance. One example was an insurance industry first drone show in support of our Hong Kong brand campaign, which reached 7.5 million people and drove strong social engagement. We're also finding ways to have a greater impact beyond Sun Life.
Our sustainability strategy highlights how we can make an impact on society in the areas we know best: financial security, healthier lives, and sustainable investing. For example, in Asia, we covered 2.4 million people through affordable insurance policies, facilitating easier access to life insurance coverage. We continue to be dedicated to the fight against diabetes. Since 2012, we've committed more than CAD 50 million globally for research, prevention, and promoting healthy living. We've launched Diabetes Signature Solutions, a first of its kind, end-to-end insurance solution tailored to meet the needs of Canadians with diabetes. Around sustainable investments, we've also had a tremendous impact. One success story is the co-investment by SLC Management to build a 200-bed women's shelter in a major U.S. city, providing on-site medical services, mental health assessments, casework, and housing support.
When it comes to climate crisis, we're actively defining our path to net zero and engaging our employees, our clients, and our communities. Last year, we set interim targets for our general account emissions, made significant strides in measuring our Scope three emissions footprint in select areas of our business, and educated and engaged employees on climate change. Focusing on sustainability and nurturing culture is important work that takes time and care. We're listening, we're learning, and innovating so we can accelerate the positive impact we can have across our entire global footprint. Like everything we do, it's about creating value for our clients and our shareholders, and they want to see their investments grow and generate returns.... Our 2023 results help tell the story of how we delivered long-term value, and that our strategy is good for business, it's good for shareholders, and it's good for our clients.
Last year, we performed well against our medium-term financial objectives. Underlying earnings per share growth was above our medium-term objective at 11%. Underlying dividend payout ratio was within the range at 47%, and our underlying ROE was strong at 17.8%. We also increased our assets under management to $1.4 trillion. It's been one year since we started reporting under the IFRS 17 and 9 financial standards, and Sun Life continues to deliver solid value for our investors. We're growing our business and our capabilities. We're unique in the global financial services industry, with world-class asset management and world-class insurance businesses that complement and support each other. This evening, we're announcing our Q1 2024 results, and details will be available on our website.
We're on the cusp of a new era that will impact and flip the script on the global business environment and the way we work in the years ahead. Digital domination, the rise of generative AI, the surge of more sustainable world, the war for talent, and client expectations going supernova. All trends that are embedded in our strategy with our commitment to create positive client impact. Which brings us back to our purpose: helping clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives, knowing that we're making decisions and taking actions today to build a bright future. In closing, my thanks to you, our shareholders and our policyholders, for your ongoing support. And thank you to our board of directors for continuing to guide our journey. Thanks to everyone at Sun Life for bringing your passion and purpose to all you do at work.
To our clients, you are why we're here, to make a positive impact when it matters the most. Thank you for your confidence and trust today and into the future. With that, I'll turn it back to Scott.
Thank you, Kevin. The scrutineers have completed their preliminary tabulation of the votes cast in respect to each of the items of business on the agenda. I'll now ask Troy to speak to the preliminary voting results. Troy, over to you.
For Sun Life Financial, the scrutineers have reported that over 55.3% of eligible shares have been voted at this meeting. I'm pleased to report that all 11 director nominees named in the circular have been elected, with votes ranging from 98.4%-99.8% in favor. Deloitte LLP was reappointed as our auditor, with over 92.7% of the votes in favor. The advisory resolution on the approach to executive compensation was passed with over 95.9% of the votes in favor. For Sun Life Assurance, the scrutineers have reported that over 16.9% of eligible votes have been cast at this meeting.
I'm pleased to report that all four policyholder director nominees named in the circular have been elected, with votes ranging from 91%-95.2% in favor, and all seven of the shareholders' directors have been elected. Deloitte LLP was reappointed as our auditor with over 96.3% of the votes in favor.
Thank you, Troy. That concludes the formal business portion of our meetings for this year. We are now pleased to receive questions from registered shareholders, voting policyholders, and duly appointed proxy holders. I'd like to remind you that questions should be of interest to all shareholders and policyholders and not of a personal nature. If your question is related to a personal matter, a Sun Life representative will contact you after the meeting, and address the issue. If you are attending in person and you have a question, please go to one of the microphones situated around the room. Please give your name and state whether you are a shareholder, a policyholder, or a proxyholder, and direct all your questions to me as chair of the meeting.
You will have up to three minutes to state your comment or question, and I'll ask that you only ask one question for each time that you're recognized. Additional questions may be recognized once we've heard from others who are waiting to speak. Virtual attendees can ask questions via the LumiPrapt platform. To submit a written question, please click the Messaging tab, type your question in the Ask a Question box, and click the Send arrow. I would like to now welcome Kevin Strain back to the stage for Q&A. Troy, are there any questions? Kevin never left the stage.
I never left, no.
Hello. Is this on?
I think it is.
Yeah. I have to just bend down a little bit. My name is Kyra Bell-Pasht . I'm here on behalf of Investors for Paris Compliance, a climate shareholder advocacy group. I'm here as a proxy holder. Sorry, I'm just gonna read. I have a comment, not a question. I hope that's okay.
Sure.
For the past two years, we have been publicly assessing Sun Life's climate plans. Though we haven't publicly assessed Sun Life's most recent plan yet, we have reviewed it, and we are happy to see some positive incremental steps, notably the expanded financed emissions reporting for its general account. We understand that this will be expanded to cover Sun Life's entire AUM over the next two years to ensure compliance with the federal regulation. More importantly, we are pleased to learn that Sun Life is, quote, "Now in the process of developing a dedicated roadmap to reach Net Zero, one that reflects each of its lines of business." This is the core of a climate plan, a description of how the business will change in order to achieve near-term company-wide emissions reductions.
That being said, this morning I was at the Manulife AGM, where I congratulated them on their recent general account commitments to run off their equity investments in oil and gas, escalating engagement with their top 10 most carbon intensive investees, to invest CAD 690 million in climate solutions, and to lobby in alignment with the Paris Agreement. These are the types of transition plan commitments we have not yet seen from Sun Life. We look forward to Sun Life catching up with and hopefully leapfrogging Manulife by setting out details of its transition plan in the coming year. Investors are keen to know how Sun Life will change the way it does business to mitigate its climate risks and maximize its climate opportunities. So thank you. That's the end of my comment.
Thank you. Kevin, do you want to-
Kira, I'd just say first, we appreciate everything you do, and we appreciate the dialogue with you guys and the thought process you bring. So I think that's great. You know, we are committed to developing our climate transition plan, and that it will be a multi-year effort, but it's one that we are determined to do, and we're setting interim net zero targets across our asset management businesses, and I think that's an important first step. We are developing business-specific decarbonization roadmaps, and we're more deeply integrating climate into our risk management processes. So I think that's all good. The transition plan, we're dedicated to making it a credible one, to making it science-based, using industry-recognized frameworks and working with people like you to make sure that that meets the needs.
So I think it's great to hear from you each year and to know that we're heading in the right direction, and that's important to us. We are a purpose-driven company, and part of that purpose, we put sustainability driven right into our strategies, and we think that it's essential helping our clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. So one of the things we're committed to doing is deepening our understanding of the impact of climate on health and embedding that into what we do, and developing a risk framework and analysis of the impacts of climate change on both mortality and morbidity. And we think that's an important piece that we can do and work on. And, of course, you've seen our sustainability report, and we're proud of the work that the team's done there.
So, that's a dialogue we'll keep up. We'll definitely look at what our competitors are doing, including Manulife, and we'll be getting back to you and having a dialogue on this topic. So thank you again for bringing this to us.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Troy, any other questions from online or written questions submitted?
At this stage, we have no questions online.
Okay. Mr. Sanborn, please step up and be recognized.
Thank you. Thank you. She was much taller than I am, and better looking. Thank you. My name is Richard Sambrook. As you know, I've been a participating policyholder in attending these meetings since 1988, and a shareholder since demutualization. I will have a question on IT. I did want to make a couple of comments that sort of struck me as highlights from the policyholder side and from the shareholder side. First, I want to thank the folks in shareholder services who assembled this annual report. Kept me up for a couple of nights. It's double the size of last year, thanks to the auditor, and I'm now a semi expert on Contractual Service Margin, and very much look forward to the amortization of CSM in the future. I noticed Dean Connor is here.
Dean, your team has done very well this year. We see continued financial strength and growth in the company, which, as companies get large, gets tougher and tougher. But the highlight for me as a simple shareholder was your targeted ROE. I'm an old school investor and shareholder, and I remember the Rule of 72. So ROEs north of 15 are very exciting for me. Watch my heart. And as a policyholder, I want to thank the policyholder service folks who are always updating my projections into the future. I don't know if people know this, but participating policyholders, especially the older folks, we tend to focus on three things in the policyholder report. The first is on asset mix, because that gives us a sense of the investments. The second is dividends.
You, you raised them last year, approved the raising of them, and you kept them the same this year. And then the third part is actually not in—I don't know if everybody knows, but the policyholder report is really two parts. One for the participating policyholders and the back end for the insurance assurance company. So in the back end, I'm sure most participating policyholders, Section 24 on the pension areas, we all go to the principal assumptions for significant plans. And I want to thank the actuaries this year on behalf of all males over 65. They've given us an extra year of life expectancy, so very much appreciated. And hopefully, my wife will be happy with that, too. So my question is on IT.
What we've heard this year is all about this AI tsunami coming. NVIDIA and everything is going ultra fast, and it's on the backdrop of cyber threats, which means that they can do them faster and bigger and all that kind of stuff. And given that, the brand for Sun Life is trust, and you, you deal so much with financial assets, our issue is about trust and security, first and foremost. It doesn't matter what your return is if you've lost all the money. Talk about Bitcoin. So my question is about your preparedness in sort of going forward and how you're viewing the situation. That's it. Thank you.
Thank you. Kevin, why don't you?
Well, I thank you again, Richard, for your, for your question. I think it's a very topical one and one that we think about a lot. You heard me talk about some of the examples of where we're using generative AI to improve our experience for our clients and to make us more efficient and to do value-added things for our clients, and that we're we perceive ourselves as one of the leading sort of companies in this space in terms of doing some experimentation and trying things out and finding ways to help use it for programming or in our contact centers and those types of things. So we're doing a number of experiments on that. On the cyber side, you know, we have our CISO here, Abe, sitting quite close to you as well.
We do run a very sophisticated cyber program. It's a global program that protects our clients and our technology. We've invested significantly in that program, in both people, in technology, but also in partnerships. Because one of the things you want to do is have a world view when it comes to these things and engage in dialogue and discussion so we can know where the threats are coming and how to think about them. I think these investments have just begun, because this is a growing area, and we see more and more potential cyber threats out there. And not just us. Every company, every financial institution is seeing that.
So we're investing in our capabilities, in our people, and in partnerships, and we do assess and test those capabilities, including things like tabletop exercises, where we try to pretend we're experiencing a cyber threat and what would that look like and be prepared as an organization. So this is an important topic and one that we take seriously and that we're investing in significantly.
Can I just follow up on, on the question? Part of it is, do you have in place backup plans.
Yeah.
T hat if you actually got taken down, that you could recover or receive the information? I mean.
Yeah, yeah.
In 150 years or so, Sun Life has not had that problem, but Microsoft has been spending the last several months trying to get the Russians out of their systems, so nobody's perfectly immune. So I'm just interested in the backup for security.
Yeah.
That's all.
We look at all aspects of our program, including what we call our crown jewels, which would be our most important technology systems that protect our clients' information. For those systems, we would run back processes and those types of things. Yes.
Troy, any other questions coming from the system?
We have no questions online.
Anyone in the room that would like to ask a question? Sir.
My name is Mitchell Gold. I only learned about your activities when I got an offer from the government to get a dental plan.
Uh-huh.
So I haven't analyzed your company very much, but having heard Kevin talk, I was hoping to hear him mention what Bing is doing with the LSEG Enterprise in England. They are on the leading edge of AI development, with LSEG retaining Microsoft with a $2.8 billion investment in Microsoft after they had made a $27 billion investment in Refinitiv. And you're in that competition. What are you doing about it?
So, maybe first, thank you for being one of our dental clients. We're proud to have you in that group, and I hope you'll get great service from that. We know that we're off to a great start on the Canadian Dental Care Plan. You know, on the generative AI side, we work with a bunch of partners around the world, including... You might have seen that in AWS, Laura Money, who's our CIO, was highlighted in their quarterly report in terms of the work that we've done with them. We work with other leading firms. I'm not familiar with the firm that you mentioned, but we do work with a bunch of leading firms and thought leadership groups.
Toronto is an AI hub, and we had the folks from the Creative Destruction Lab that were in our office yesterday, talking to me and Chris, who runs our client impact area. It's an area that we're talking to lots of different firms and trying different things and really experimenting from, and I think you're going to see it evolve a lot over the next two , five, 10 years. So it's an area that we do talk to a lot of different firms.
LSEG is the London Stock Exchange.
Oh, the London Stock Exchange. Oh, sorry, I misheard you. So yeah. Yeah, sorry. So we're involved with multiple different sort of groups and thought leadership organizations.
I just want you to know they're asleep.
Okay, yeah. Thanks.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thank you all for your questions, and thank you to everyone for joining our annual meeting, whether in person or virtually. On behalf of Sun Life's board of directors, thank you for your continued trust and confidence in Sun Life, and enjoy the rest of your evening. We look forward to seeing you all again next year, and please stay healthy and safe. Thank you.
Thanks.