CASE STUDY
Optimizing ETF trades: How Sun Life utilizes Bloomberg’s RFQe
Sun Life Asset Management HK Ltd. (“SAM”)
Part of Canada’s Sun Group, Sun Life Hong Kong Ltd., one of the city’s largest life insurers, ranks among the top three Mandatory Provident Fund (“MPF”) providers in Hong Kong, managing nearly HK$130 billion in assets. A recognized name in the industry, SAM has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Excellence in ESG Savings and Life Insurance Award from the Hong Kong Economic Journal, Best MPF Administration Services of the Year, and Outstanding Marketing Strategies – ESG from Metro Finance.
FEATURED PRODUCTS
INDUSTRY
Fund Management
REGION
APAC
GOAL
Utilize ETFs as a key investment option while moving away from outdated processes
Key insights
Adding RFQe to Bloomberg AIM for order placement, pre-trade analysis, and RFQe processes has transformed SAM’s workflow.
The system now integrates each step, allowing for comprehensive monitoring, documentation, and granular trade tracking within Bloomberg.
Since RFQe was customized to SAM’s specific requirements, it also supports adherence to the firm’s compliance policies across best execution practices, audit trails, reporting, and analytics.
Felix Ho
Chief Investment Officer, SAM
Situation
Responsible for managing the pension plans of thousands of Hong Kong workers, SAM allocates assets across a wide range of equity and fixed income funds.
As SAM allocates assets to mutual funds, it is increasingly focused on investment options that deliver healthy returns.
To increase portfolio flexibility, SAM began adding ETFs to its portfolio in 2019.
This deepening pool of options gives SAM access to a growing selection of low-cost investment vehicles across geographic exposures from the U.S., Europe, and Japan, with and without currency hedging, as well as sector strategies like technology or real estate.
ETFs also offer a distinct advantage over mutual funds with intraday trading, enabling SAM to execute strategies like sector rotation, for instance, buying a tech ETF using proceeds from selling an energy ETF within the same session.
Problem
As SAM expanded its ETF portfolio, managing trades became increasingly complex. The traditional process of contacting multiple brokers and market makers by phone or email to initiate, assess, and execute trades was inefficient and prone to errors while carrying substantial compliance risks. As SAM shifted more of its portfolio from mutual funds to ETFs, this approach became unsustainable.
Increasing needs in providing low-cost investment strategies for MPF scheme members
Reliance on outdated processes
Solution
After evaluating several ETF trading solutions, SAM chose Bloomberg’s RFQe as it can streamline ETF trading within a comprehensive offering.
Adapting RFQe to SAM’s existing system required an extensive setup, from formulating orders via Excel spreadsheets before feeding them into the system to generating detailed reports, but Bloomberg played a key role in overcoming logistical and integration hurdles.
Comprehensive monitoring, documentation, and granular trade tracking
Adherence to the firm’s compliance policies across best execution practices, audit trails, reporting, and analytics
Felix Ho
Chief Investment Officer, SAM
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