The president and CEO of Sun Life Financial Inc. says headwinds in the office real estate sector are likely to continue this year, but he remains positive about the industry’s long-term outlook.

“Longer term, we see (real estate) as a good investment class,” Kevin Strain told BNN Bloomberg in a television interview on Monday.

Strain said that despite the challenging economic environment, the office real estate space will eventually “right itself” and will resume its growth trajectory over time.

“We think that people are coming back to the office… I don't think people are going back to work full-time anytime soon either, but you are seeing more and more flow back into the office space,” he said.

Strain’s optimistic comments come after Sun Life reported last week that the total value of its investment properties fell 3.8 per cent to $9.7 billion last year.

The company’s U.S. office investments saw the biggest decline – dropping from $647 million in 2022 to $476 million in 2023.

Strain said Sun Life has still seen strong returns from its real estate assets over the long term, and noted that the company had been preparing for anticipated changes in the industry by offloading some of its office spaces even before the pandemic.

“We are seeing the long-term investment returns being very strong here, so we're not looking to divest in general out of real estate,” he said.

“Although of course we look at different properties and we're always changing the mix of our real estate portfolio.”

Strength in the U.S., Asia

Offsetting Sun Life’s loss in real estate value last year was strong insurance policy sales in Asia and the U.S., where Strain said the company is seeing “really good experience.”

“Broadly, we play in a bunch of different areas in the U.S. group benefits space, which is increasingly becoming a health business for us,” he said.

“Overall, that business performed very well during the year. We saw a tremendous lift in their earnings.”

The company reported last week that underlying net income in the fourth quarter increased 10 per cent from 2022 to $983 million, beating estimates from an analyst survey conducted by Bloomberg.

Meanwhile in Asia, the company’s underlying net income increased by six per cent to $143 million in the fourth quarter, behind a 49 per cent jump in individual sales.

With files from Bloomberg News