SLF.PR.H To Reset At 2.842%

Sun Life Financial Inc. has announced:

the dividend rates for its Class A Non-Cumulative Rate Reset Preferred Shares Series 10R (the “Series 10R Shares”) and Class A Non-Cumulative Floating Rate Preferred Shares Series 11QR (the “Series 11QR Shares”).

With respect to any Series 10R Shares that remain outstanding after September 30, 2016, commencing as of that date, holders thereof will be entitled to receive non-cumulative preferential cash dividends on a quarterly basis, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of Sun Life Financial and subject to the Insurance Companies Act (Canada). The dividend rate for the five-year period commencing on September 30, 2016 to but excluding September 30, 2021 will be 2.842% per annum or $0.177625 per share per quarter, being equal to the sum of the Government of Canada Yield, as defined in the terms of the Series 10R Shares, on Wednesday, August 31, 2016 plus 2.17%, as determined in accordance with the terms of the Series 10R Shares.

With respect to any Series 11QR Shares that are issued on September 30, 2016, holders thereof will be entitled to receive floating rate non-cumulative preferential cash dividends on a quarterly basis, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of Sun Life Financial and subject to the Insurance Companies Act (Canada), based on a dividend rate equal to the sum of the T-Bill Rate, as defined in the terms of the Series 11QR Shares, plus 2.17% (calculated on the basis of the actual number of days elapsed in such Quarterly Floating Rate Period divided by 365 days), subject to certain adjustments in accordance with the terms of the Series 11QR Shares. The dividend rate for the period commencing on September 30, 2016 to but excluding December 31, 2016 will be equal to 2.682% per annum or $0.169003 per share, as determined in accordance with the terms of the Series 11QR Shares.

Beneficial owners of Series 10R Shares who wish to exercise the right of conversion should communicate as soon as possible with their broker or other nominee and should ensure that their instructions are followed in order to meet the deadline to exercise such right of conversion, which is 5:00 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, September 15, 2016.

An application will be made to list the Series 11QR Shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

I previously reported the notice of extension.

SLF.PR.H is a FixedReset, 3.90%+217, that commenced trading 2011-8-12 after being announced 2011-8-4. The reset dividend therefore represents a dividend cut of 27%.

As the issue does not have a NVCC clause, I have followed my current policy and added a Deemed Maturity entry to the call schedule for 2025-1-31 in the expectation that the NVCC rules will be imposed on insurers and insurance holding companies in the reasonably near future.

As noted, the deadline for notifying the company of a desire to convert is 5:00 p.m. (ET) on September 15, 2016, but note that custodians of your shares will have internal deadlines a day or two earlier. Hence, I will make a recommendation on whether or not to convert on September 12, 2016.

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