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CLIENTS AT THE CENTRE Sun Life Financial Canada president Jacques Goulet is drawing on his varied background to help create a better experience for clients
WHEN MANY people hear the name Sun Life, they think insurance. But the company is trying to get the word out that it’s about more than just insurance. Sun Life has an impressive global investment offering that now includes more than 70 mutual funds and more than $23 billion in AUM. From group retirement services to its advisor network, Sun Life’s overarching goal is to help clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. At the heart of those efforts is Jacques Goulet, who took over as president of Sun Life Financial Canada in 2018. “When I joined Sun Life just over a year ago, I instantly saw the passion that employees and advisors have for our clients,” Goulet says. “We put clients at the centre of everything we do. We recently aligned the retail division of our business to be closer to our Canadian executive team. This allows the leadership to focus on the advisor, who is at the core of our client experience and the growth engine for the organization.” Goulet believes Sun Life’s advisors, who provide holistic advice to Canadians, are critical to the client experience. “This ties in nicely with our newly created client experience office,” he says, “which focuses on helping the organization deliver a great client experience, regardless of where and how clients interact with us.”
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At home and abroad Goulet’s view of the relationship between advisors and their clients traces back to his roots in Shawinigan, Quebec, where his family still operates a plumbing business. Clients were always at the centre of his family’s business, and that’s something Goulet was keen to bring to his current role. “This mindset is also shared by our
Concordia University and is a fellow of both the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. He spent 29 years working for Mercer, where he held a variety of leadership positions in Canada, the US and Europe. As president of health and wealth at Mercer, he oversaw the firm’s global retirement, health, investment consulting and investment management business.
“Driving business and strong performance is essential to any organization. What sets you apart is how you treat your clients, and more importantly, how your clients feel at the end of the day” network of financial advisors across Canada, who embrace an entrepreneurial mindset and adopt new technology while focusing on each individual’s needs,” he says. “Driving business and strong performance is essential to any organization. What sets you apart is how you treat your clients, and more importantly, how your clients feel at the end of the day.” Professionally, Goulet’s background is in actuarial science. He earned his degree from
“After studying actuarial science, my career started to take shape going in one of two directions: consulting or insurance,” he says. “I jumped at the opportunity to enter the world of consulting, and as they say, the rest was history. It was an interesting time, given the pension industry was booming. It gave many people, including myself, an exciting career path with diverse opportunity.” Perhaps the greatest impact on Goulet’s career was his role spearheading Mercer’s
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5/04/2019 4:30:11 AM