Retirement plan solutions

Deep understanding of retirement plans, custom and diversified solutions, dedication to serving clients.

 

Working with retirement plans

Plan sponsors face unique requirements and challenges to meet the needs of their participants. That’s why we work closely with our clients to understand their goals and risk tolerance and create custom solutions that help them achieve their long-term objectives.

Our clients range from defined benefit (DB) plan sponsors looking to enhance yield or return, to those taking their first steps to reduce funded status volatility, to late-stage plans looking to fine-tune their custom liability driven investment (LDI) strategies. 

We work closely with public plans seeking strategies to help manage risk, return and liquidity in their portfolios and partner with defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors aiming to diversify their offerings. 

Pension plan AUM

$107B DB

Pension company clients

1,050+

Investment professionals

200+

Public Fixed Income AUM

$139B

Private Credit AUM

$56B

Real Estate AUM

$124B

As of March 31, 2025.

Our approach

Collaborate

Collaborate to understand our client’s risk, return and liquidity objectives

Analyze

Analyze the drivers of return and volatility in the plan’s assets and liabilities 

Develop solutions

Develop solutions utilizing traditional or customized benchmarks to meet the client’s unique objectives 

Implement

Implement with access to diversified sources of credit

Monitor and adjust

Monitor and adjust to reflect market conditions and to meet the changing needs of the client

Implement

Implement with access to diversified sources of credit

Monitor and adjust

Monitor and adjust to reflect market conditions and to meet the changing needs of the client

Diverse range of investment strategies

Clients benefit from our diverse investment offerings across asset classes and through public and private strategies across the credit spectrum.

  • Public fixed income
  • Private fixed income
  • Infrastructure
  • Real Estate equity & debt
  • Derivatives overlays

Canadian monthly corporate bond watch

This month's issue discusses movements on the yield curve, new issuance activity and mixed economic indicators.

Explore more retirement planning insights

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  • Q1 2025: Investment Grade Private Credit update

    Credit markets reported considerable year-over-year deal activity, with investor demand a principal driver. Meanwhile, continued development, expansion and innovation in the asset-backed finance (ABF) space requires a renewed perspective into the possible benefits and risks of these investments.

  • Q4 2024: Inflation Watch

    In this issue, we discuss the uncertainty caused by trade tensions, some cooling in shelter prices and effects of the Canadian government’s tax moves.

  • Q4 2024: Investment Grade Private Credit update

    Strong October issuance led to a strong fourth quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, business development companies (BDCs) continue to grow as potential opportunities for IG private credit investors.

  • 2025 Global Investment Outlook

    Welcome to SLC Management’s investment outlook for 2025. In this report, our investment teams and solutions providers discuss public and private fixed income, real estate, infrastructure, insurance asset management and retirement plans.

  • Q3 2024: Investment Grade Private Credit update

    Amid continuing pressures on social infrastructure, SLC Management discusses investor opportunities to enhance returns, while advancing public interest initiatives.

  • Strategic allocation for insurers in a changing environment

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  • Building more resilient portfolios with alternative fixed income

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  • Perspectives on fund finance: opportunities and challenges

    Fund finance, which includes strategies such as net asset value (NAV) lending, has become a fast growing tool employed by asset managers seeking financing and for institutional investors seeking potential risk–return benefits. Gain further insights from our investment team: 

  • IG private credit and solutions to LDI challenges

    LDI programs often face a tradeoff between hedging liabilities and enhancing diversification, among other competing goals. Our investment team discusses how IG private credit can help solve the conundrum.

  • Risk, capital and returns: insights into insurance

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  • Q3 2024: Inflation Watch

    In this issue, we discuss cooling inflation, price softness across several CPI categories and alternatives to RRBs in inflation hedging.

  • Q1 2024: Inflation Watch

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  • Q1 2024: Investment Grade Private Credit update

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  • Q4 2023: Investment Grade Private Credit update

    Investment grade (IG) private credit volume in Q4 2023 was the strongest for the year at US$28.6 billion, bouncing back from US$14.1 billion in Q3 2023, the lowest quarterly volume of the year. While we won’t know final results for a few months, preliminary 2023 volume of US$90.7 billion fell short of US$92.3 billion in 2022. Issuers that had something to get done came to market in the last quarter and investors responded positively. This was in contrast to much of 2023 when issuers were put off by high rates or market uncertainty and investors were either less liquid or more cautious immediately after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank.

  • 2024 Global Investment Outlook

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  • September 2023: Inflation watch

    In this issue, we discuss the continued increase in headline CPI, a burst in RRB trading volume in Q3, and why implementing a U.S. based inflationary strategy could be expensive for Canadian investors.

  • Q3 2023: Investment Grade Private Credit update

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  • July 2023: Inflation watch

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  • Q2 2023: Investment Grade Private Credit update

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  • Q2 2023: Investment Grade Private Credit update

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  • 2023 Mid-year Global Investment Outlook

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  • Ten years past the global financial crisis: Lessons learned in fixed income

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The assets under management (AUM) represent the combined AUM of Sun Life Capital Management (Canada) Inc., Sun Life Capital Management (U.S) LLC, Crescent Capital Group, BentallGreenOak and InfraRed Capital Partners.

About SLC Management

SLC Management is the brand name for the institutional asset management business of Sun Life Financial Inc. (“Sun Life”) under which Sun Life Capital Management (U.S.) LLC in the United States, and Sun Life Capital Management (Canada) Inc. in Canada operate.

Sun Life Capital Management (Canada) Inc. is a Canadian registered portfolio manager, investment fund manager, exempt market dealer and in Ontario, a commodity trading manager. Sun Life Capital Management (U.S.) LLC is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser and is also a Commodity Trading Advisor and Commodity Pool Operator registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under the Commodity Exchange Act and Members of the National Futures Association.

BentallGreenOak, InfraRed Capital Partners (InfraRed) and Crescent Capital Group (Crescent), and Advisors Asset Management are also part of SLC Management.

BentallGreenOak is a global real estate investment management advisor and a provider of real estate services. In the U.S., real estate mandates are offered by BentallGreenOak (U.S.) Limited Partnership, who is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser, or Sun Life Institutional Distributors (U.S.) LLC, an SEC registered broker-dealer and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) . In Canada, real estate mandates are offered by BentallGreenOak (Canada) Limited Partnership, BGO Capital (Canada) Inc. or Sun Life Capital Management (Canada) Inc. BGO Capital (Canada) Inc. is a Canadian registered portfolio manager and exempt market dealer and is registered as an investment fund manager in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.

InfraRed Capital Partners is an international investment manager focused on infrastructure. Operating worldwide, InfraRed manages equity capital in multiple private and listed funds, primarily for institutional investors across the globe. InfraRed Capital Partners Ltd. is authorized and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Crescent Capital Group is a global alternative credit investment asset manager registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser. Crescent provides private credit financing (including senior, unitranche and junior debt) to middle-market companies in the U.S. and Europe, and invests in high-yield bonds and broadly syndicated loans.

Securities will only be offered and sold in compliance with applicable securities laws.

AAM is an independent U.S. retail distribution firm that provides a range of solutions and products to financial advisors at wirehouses, registered investment advisors and independent broker-dealers.

Website content

The content of this website is intended for institutional investors only. It is not for retail use or distribution to individual investors. All investments involve risk including the possible loss of capital. All asset classes have associated risks. Certain asset classes are speculative, can include a high degree of risk and are suitable only for long-term investment. Further information available upon request. This website is for informational and educational purposes only. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

The information contained in this website is not intended to provide specific financial, tax, investment, insurance, legal or accounting advice and should not be relied upon and does not constitute a specific offer to buy and/or sell securities, insurance or investment services. Investors should consult with their professional advisors before acting upon any information contained on this website. The assets under management (AUM) represent the combined AUM of Sun Life Capital Management (Canada) Inc., Sun Life Capital Management (U.S) LLC, BentallGreenOak, Crescent Capital Group, InfraRed Capital Partners, and Advisors Asset Management.

AUM as of March 31, 2025. Total firm AUM includes approximately $11B in cash, other, unfunded commitments, and Advisors Asset Management equity. Total firm AUM excludes $16 billion in assets under administration by AAM.

Currency conversion rate: USD $1.00 CAD $1.4387 as of March 31, 2025.

UK Tax Strategy - InfraRed (UK) Holdco 2020 Limited

InfraRed (UK) Holdco 2020 Ltd is the UK holding company of InfraRed Partners LLP and a subsidiary of Sun Life (U.S.) Holdco 2020 Inc, which has its headquarters in the U.S. The company was incorporated to purchase InfraRed Partners LLP and acts solely as a passive holding company. The Tax Strategy for the InfraRed Holdco Group sets out our approach to the management of InfraRed Holdco Group UK tax affairs in supporting business activities in the UK. 

This UK tax strategy is published in accordance with the requirements set out in Schedule 19 of Finance Act 2016. The strategy, which has been approved by the Board of Directors of InfraRed (UK) Holdco 2020 Ltd, is effective for the period ending 31 December 2024. It applies to InfraRed (UK) Holdco 2020 Ltd and its dormant subsidiary Sun Life (UK) Designated Member Ltd, referred to as the “InfraRed Holdco Group”. InfraRed Holdco Group.