Only one-third of Canadians are optimistic about the economy

Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc.

Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc.

Sun Life Global Investments finds that when it comes to investing, Canadians are cautious

TORONTO, Sept. 24, 2015 /CNW/ - Four in five Canadian investors (82%) believe the domestic economy will grow by two per cent or less in 2016, according to the 2015 Investor Sentiment Report by Sun Life Global Investments. Looking further out, just one-third of Canadians have an optimistic view of the domestic economy over the next five years.

"We're not surprised by the lukewarm response - it lines up with our view on Canada which has been negative for quite some time," says Sadiq S. Adatia, Chief Investment Officer of Sun Life Global Investments. "Low oil prices continue to be a significant challenge to the Canadian economy."

When it came to their own personal finances, Canadians are more optimistic. More than half (52%) stated they are either very optimistic (14%) or somewhat optimistic (38%) about their financial future over the next five years.

"Despite having low to moderate expectations about the domestic economy, Canadians continue to invest at home. They told us that only 12 per cent of their portfolio, on average, is invested outside of Canada and only 16 per cent of respondents say they plan to invest more in foreign assets in the next year. This finding underscores the importance of investors sitting down with an advisor to ensure their portfolios are effectively positioned," says Rick Headrick, President, Sun Life Global Investments.

The survey also suggests Canadian investors are conservatively positioned. Survey respondents said 25 per cent of their assets are held in cash, on average.

The Investor Sentiment Report was conducted by Sun Life Global Investments to better understand the investing habits and attitudes of Canadians to help meet their needs.

For more key findings and results on the 2015 Investor Sentiment Report, visit www.sunlifeglobalinvestments.com/InvestorSentimentInsights. For more information on investment opportunities, visit www.sunlifeglobalinvestments.com.

About the survey
An Ipsos Reid poll was conducted on behalf of Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc. between July 20 and August 8, 2015.

For this survey, Ipsos Reid conducted online interviews with a sample of 1,502 Canadians from 25 to 80 years of age from the Ipsos Canadian panel. Weighting was employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample composition reflects that of the adult population according to census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The data is also weighted to reflect total household investment assets by the age of the major income earner based on a special tabulation from the Statistics Canada Survey of Financial Security, 2012.

The precision of Ipsos online surveys is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the survey is accurate to within + 2.9% 19 times in 20 had all Canadian adults been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to methodological change, coverage error and measurement error.

About Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc.
Sun Life Global Investments offers Canadians a diverse line-up of mutual funds and innovative portfolio solutions, empowering them to pursue their financial goals at every life stage. We bring together the strength of one of Canada's most trusted names in financial services with some of the best asset managers from around the world to deliver a truly global investment platform. Sun Life Global Investments manages more than $11 billion on behalf of institutional and retail investors from coast to coast and is a member of the Sun Life Financial group of companies. For more information, visit www.sunlifeglobalinvestments.com or connect with us on Twitter @SLGI_Canada.

About Sun Life Financial
Celebrating 150 years in 2015, Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of protection and wealth products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Sun Life Financial and its partners have operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of June 30, 2015, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of $808 billion. For more information please visit www.sunlife.com.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.

Note to Editors: All figures in Canadian dollars.

SOURCE Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc.

Video with caption: "Video: Rick Headrick, President, Sun Life Global Investments discusses the 2015 Investor Sentiment Report. ". Video available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/playback.cgi?file=20150924_C9868_VIDEO_EN_44252.mp4&posterurl=http://photos.newswire.ca/images/20150924_C9868_PHOTO_EN_44252.jpg&clientName=Sun%20Life%20Global%20Investments%20%28Canada%29%20Inc%2E&caption=Video%3A%20Rick%20Headrick%2C%20President%2C%20Sun%20Life%20Global%20Investments%0D%0Adiscusses%20the%202015%20Investor%20Sentiment%20Report%2E%20&title=SUN%20LIFE%20GLOBAL%20INVESTMENTS%20%28CANADA%29%20INC%2E%20%2D%20Only%20one%2Dthird%20of%20Canadians%20are%20optimistic%20about%20the%20economy&headline=Only%20one%2Dthird%20of%20Canadians%20are%20optimistic%20about%20the%20economy

Image with caption: "Investor Sentiment Infographic by Sun Life Global Investments (CNW Group/Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150924_C9868_PHOTO_EN_44251.jpg

Jentzen Brown 
Manager, Media Relations 
416-979-4076 
[email protected]