Insurance
Home›Insurance›Industry & Deals›Sun Life group sales jump 27% on higher US medical sto…
Sun Life group sales jump 27% on higher US medical stop-loss demand
The Toronto insurer said US medical stop-loss sales rose 43% to US$324 million, while underlying net income increased to CA$1.123 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2026.
Sun Life Financial said second-quarter group insurance sales rose 27% year over year to CA$680 million, helped by stronger broker demand for group coverage. The insurer posted underlying net income of CA$1.123 billion for the period ended June 30, 2026, and it reported individual insurance sales up 16% to CA$1.002 billion.
In the United States, Sun Life reported group insurance sales climbed 43% to US$324 million, driven mainly by higher medical stop-loss sales. The company attributed the growth to stronger close rates, continued pricing discipline supported by its risk selection tools, and favorable market conditions, while lower Medicaid dental sales partly offset the increase.
The results come as the broader US stop-loss market hardens, with industry annual premiums rising from CA$35.4 billion in 2025 to over CA$40 billion, according to BenefitSmith data cited by the company. Sun Life also pointed to industry-wide loss ratios reaching 85%, above a historical 75% target, and Segal said average medical stop-loss premium increases accelerated to 12.7% in 2026 from 9.7% in 2025, based on its dataset of 225 health plans.
Sun Life added that its US underlying net income rose 15% to US$164 million, supported by medical stop-loss revenue growth and favorable experience in in-force management, partly offset by weaker employee benefits results after a strong prior-year comparison. Separately, the insurer said it was added to the digital platform of Centro, a US ancillary benefits consulting and technology firm, via an API connection designed to automate the exchange of request-for-proposal data and replace manual workflows.