Sison hands over Sun Life Philippines to successor Moreno

Manila Bulletin

Sun Life Philippines CEO and country head Benedict Sison looks back on the company’s milestones as he hands over the reins to his successor, Jonathan Juan “JJ” Moreno.   Moreno will assume the role of Sun Life Philippines chief on April 1, 2026. (via Gabbi Galang | MB)  Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5664f6TkaeHgwBly50DWZQ/join  Subscribe to the Manila Bulletin Online channel! - https://www.youtube.com/TheManilaBulletin  Visit our website at http://mb.com.ph Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manilabulletin Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/manila_bulletin Instagram: https://instagram.com/manilabulletin Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@manilabulletin  #ManilaBulletinOnline #ManilaBulletin #LatestNews

Transcript

00:00You know, to be honest with you, maybe let me start by telling you what we've accomplished in the last eight years, okay?

00:09And I must start by saying that I didn't do it alone.

00:14I had people very dedicated, very committed, engaged, highly engaged, the best African leadership team supporting making it happen.

00:26So let me start. First, we continue to be number one life insurance company in the country.

00:32Total Sun Life Philippines continues to be number one in all key metrics.

00:37I heard Carla saying that we're number one in terms of total premium for the past 14 years,

00:44but she was referring to our wholly owned insurance company, which is LockPee.

00:48But total Philippines, including our wholly owned as well as our bank insurance business,

00:54combined continues to be the number one life insurance company in the country in terms of all key metrics,

01:01including total premium, new business, and net income.

01:05So that's one.

01:06Number two, we continue to be financially strong, as evidenced by the fact that we're number one in terms of net income,

01:13and our edge over the number two player is close to 50%.

01:19And that data is based on September 30, 2025 data, as reported by the Insurance Commission,

01:27and that's the latest data available.

01:30Okay, third, in terms of clients, we now have over 6.2 million clients.

01:37When I started, we had 5 million clients, so that's over 20% growth in number of clients.

01:43And really, that's a testament to that confidence and that trust.

01:47What are your initiatives or strategies to address the industry challenges?

01:53One of the first challenges for me to be able to have the eloquence, the charm, and the elegance of Benedict.

02:00That's a big challenge.

02:01That's a big challenge, no?

02:03But yes, seriously, as far as the industry is concerned, there are challenges,

02:08and as far as financial literacy is concerned.

02:11The awareness of the importance of life insurance still is at some very, very most of those days.

02:16That's something that we, as a company, would like to push forward with,

02:20but I think this is also one of the areas where we, as an industry,

02:25would also need to band together to be able to push forward.

02:28The whole concept of really making sure that life insurance is made aware of in as far as the middle class

02:36and the lower middle class, actually, to be able to do that.

02:39Of course, there will always be the technological challenges that we will have to face in as far as delivery.

02:45There are other options.

02:47There are alternatives, perhaps, to life insurance.

02:50There's self-insurance.

02:51And the share-to-wallet is something that we also need to address

02:55because we can be losing out to other financial services

03:00that can be used as a substitute for insurance.

03:06Savings, investments, and the kind of things.

03:08Not quite, but then again, we're digging on the same wallet.

03:12So the share-to-wallet is one of the things.

03:14Challenges, of course, in, you know, the macroeconomic, you know, the challenges as well,

03:21that will affect because we do have products that are linked to either equities and, you know, the other.

03:29So those are the things that it does affect, for example, from the VOL standpoint,

03:34it does affect the performance of the funds and then, of course, the confidence on insurance-linked products.

03:41That one, we really need to address that.

03:44That one, we really need to address that.

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