Our Firm
Sun Life Capital Management (U.S.) LLC (“Adviser”) became SEC-registered in
1991 and is one of several firms operating under the name “SLC Management”, the
brand name for the global institutional asset management business of Sun Life
Financial Inc.
SLC Management seeks to provide diversified solutions to meet clients’ evolving
needs. SLC Management’s clients include pension plans, insurance companies and
other institutional investors such as endowments, foundations, and family offices.
Certain of these clients are affiliates of SLC Management.
Adviser’s capabilities in developing multi-asset class solutions, liability driven
investing strategies and alternative investments help institutional investors match
assets and liabilities as a part of a total return portfolio.
• Liability Driven Investment (LDI) strategies: We work with plan sponsors at all
stages of de-risking, from early-stage clients taking their first steps to reduce
funded status volatility, to late-stage clients looking to fine tune their liability-
hedging programs.
• Insurance asset management: We provide our clients with decades of insurance
expertise through a global insurance asset management platform that seeks to
deliver performance through traditional and alternative asset classes.
• Public fixed income: We offer investment grade and high yield public fixed
income strategies that seek a consistent stream of income, liquidity, and
opportunity for liability matching. Our credit teams are organized by global credit
sectors.
• Total return fixed income: Our portfolio management team seeks to provide
returns consistent with the risk profile of the client’s mandate. From short and
intermediate duration to core fixed income and long credit, we offer total return
fixed income strategies managed against the traditional fixed income
benchmarks across the duration spectrum.
• Derivative overlay strategies: We design, model and manage customized overlay
solutions that can shape a client’s portfolio risk profile and improve the risk/return
profile of their investments. We can help clients optimize portfolio beta and
reduce uncompensated or unwanted risk across a broad range of risk types –
from currency, to credit, to interest rates, to equity.
• Private fixed income: Our focus on private fixed income includes investments in
project, corporate and mid-market finance, private real estate finance, and
private securitization finance.
As of December 31, 2023, SLC Management has 220 employees, 101of whom are
investment professionals. Adviser manages assets on either a discretionary or non-
discretionary basis. As of December 31, 20232, Adviser’s total regulatory assets
under management (“RAUM”) were $69,470,041,414.02 including
$55,407,692,408.83 in discretionary and $14,062,349,005.19 in non-discretionary
accounts.
Adviser is headquartered in Wellesley, MA. While our Investment Management
Teams focus on all market segments, the teams responsible for managing Private
Fixed Income, Public Fixed Income, Derivative Overlay Strategies, and Commercial
Mortgage Loans are primarily located in the Wellesley and Toronto offices (“WT”).
Our Investment Team specializing in Total Return Fixed Income is in New York City
(“TRFI”). In Redmond, WA and Hartford, CT, Investment Teams are focused
specifically on managing U.S. based insurance company portfolios (“Insurance
Asset Management” or “IAM”). In connection with providing advisory services to its
clients, Adviser leverages the research, portfolio management, trading and related
functions of its global affiliates, including under a memorandum of understanding
with the “Participating Affiliate”, as described in Item 10 below. In certain cases,
Adviser’s services are delegated to, or provided in connection with, one or more of
its affiliates as also described in Item 10. Adviser has been providing investment
advice and other related services to affiliates of Sun Life Financial since 1997.
Adviser is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Life Financial Inc. (“Sun Life”),
a publicly traded holding company for a diversified financial services organization.
The Sun Life group of companies provides a broad range of financial products and
services to individuals and groups located primarily in Canada, the United States,
and the Asia Pacific Region.
Advisory Services
Adviser provides asset and risk management services to institutional investors,
some
of whom are affiliated with Sun Life. Pursuant to written agreements, Adviser
provides recommendations, investment advice and analysis regarding investment
strategies and potential investments to affiliated and unaffiliated entities. Each client
has unique investment needs and Adviser tailors clients' portfolios to meet their
individual objectives. Clients can impose restrictions, including on certain of
securities (e.g., credit quality, type) and on responsible investment or environmental,
social, and governance (“ESG”) restrictions.
Adviser’s strategies are managed through a disciplined investment process which
follows one or more of these disciplines:
• Focus on Fundamentals
• Disciplined Risk Management
• Extensive Credit Research
• Team Approach to Portfolio Management
However, as discussed below, not all strategies will follow the same investment
process.
In some cases, Adviser retains affiliated third-party managers or subadvisers to
provide portfolio management services under Adviser’s oversight, subject to the
terms of each individual client’s written agreement with Adviser.
The nature of investment advice and analysis provided can include portfolio holdings
and/or weightings, analysis and evaluation of potential investments and other related
information regarding the construction and maintenance of portfolios.
Wellesley-Toronto or WT
WT provides asset and risk management services to institutional investors.
In addition to discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory services,
Adviser’s trade desk and trade personnel can effect transactions for its affiliates that
are not advisory clients of Adviser. Adviser performs this service as an
accommodation on a “cost plus” basis for these affiliates. Adviser does not consider
this accommodation activity to be part of its advisory business or any other business.
Insurance Asset Management or IAM
IAM customizes portfolios for insurance companies by understanding each client’s
underlying business through proprietary financial modeling and analysis. We analyze
both the business environment and the company’s financial position to help design a
comprehensive investment policy, develop or refine investment guidelines and
create an appropriate mix between taxable and tax-advantaged investments. We
believe that managing investment portfolios for an insurance company requires an
understanding of a variety of key factors. These factors include the business and
regulatory environment, liquidity, earnings, surplus, cash flow, accounting and rating
agency requirements and the insurance company’s specific tax situation. The
purpose of our insurance business analyses and asset allocation strategy is to
develop customized performance benchmarks and investment guidelines that
support each client’s specific objectives and risk tolerances. IAM uses many of these
same techniques to customize portfolios for non-insurance entities and high net
worth family offices. In addition, IAM offers clients investment reporting and
accounting as a complement to this investment process.
Total Return Fixed Income or TRFI
Our philosophy and structure seeks to add value through issue selection and sector
rotation, minimize interest rate risk by adhering to a duration neutral posture, and
work towards reducing downside risk. We look for relative value at the issue level by
examining historical relationships with comparative bonds and sub-sectors in order
to identify possible mean reversion trades in both structured and corporate credit.
We also look for upgrade candidates, especially in securitized bonds, and mispriced
securities across the curve.
Wrap Programs
Adviser participates in an institutional wrap fee program. Fees on wrap accounts are
generally negotiated and invoiced directly to clients by the program sponsor. Thus,
Adviser’s wrap fee revenues represent a portion of the wrap fee paid by the
participant to the sponsor. Wrap account portfolios managed in a wrap fee program
are managed and receive allocations generally in the same manner as other
Adviser client portfolios of the same strategy. However, differences in allocations
can arise for wrap fee portfolios based on factors including but not limited to client-
imposed restrictions, considerations of liquidity (e.g. contributions and redemptions)
and the extent to which a portfolio deviates from a strategy’s model portfolio
structure.