Sun Life, a leading Canadian insurance company, is delighted to announce the appointment of Donna Cotter to the role of Chief Executive Officer for Sun Life International, its High Net Worth (HNW) life insurance business based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Originally from Canada, Ms Cotter has recently moved to Bermuda with her family. “We are so happy to be here. I received a warm welcome from the Sun Life team here in Bermuda and my daughters who recently enrolled in BCCL, are making new friends already,” said Ms Cotter.

Donna has joined the Sun Life branch in Bermuda having most recently served as Global Head of Strategic Partnerships for HSBC, based in Hong Kong. Her expertise encompasses global insurance, wealth management, and banking across five continents. ‘

“As a Canadian, I was very familiar with the Sun Life brand and its strength as a preeminent global financial services provider. In my new role, I will be driving our growth strategy to further strengthen our position as a global leader in the HNW Life Insurance market,” Donna explained.

Sun Life has a long history of operations in Bermuda. This year, Sun Life is celebrating 25 years of Sun Life International. Headquartered in Washington House, Sun Life has a team of 70 people, based in the heart of Hamilton. In addition to providing lifetime financial security to its clients, Sun Life is also committed to giving back to the local communities in which it operates.

Donna said: “For me, it is really important that the culture and values of the company I work with are aligned with my own. So, I was delighted to hear about Sun Life’s commitment to sustainability, diversity, and charitable giving. In Bermuda alone, we have contributed more than US$100,000 to local charities and organisations over the last two years.”

Donna shared that earlier this year, The Coalition for the Protection of Children, Meals on Wheels, and Women’s Resource Centre have each received a donation of US$ 5,000 to help support the local community during the recent pandemic.

“I am so proud that we were able to give financial assistance to these great organizations to help them during such a difficult time’, Donna added.

Sun Life has introduced various initiatives to help create internal career paths for the talented team in Bermuda.

“In 2018, we worked with Bermuda International Long-Term Insurers and Re-insurers association (BILTIR) to introduce Summer Internships for Bermudians interested in pursuing a career in Life Insurance, and we have successfully hired five participants from this programme. A year later, we launched our Junior Underwriting Programme, which provides our existing team members in Bermuda the opportunity to pursue a career as a Life Underwriter,” explained Rachael Rance, Human Resources Business Partner at Sun Life International.

“Donna is passionate about continuing to foster diversity and inclusion within Sun Life, and she has already indicated that she is committed to developing further career opportunities for talented individuals across Sun Life International.“

Karim Gilani, President of Sun Life International HuBS, said: “We are excited to welcome Donna to Sun Life International. She is a highly regarded industry expert with over 10 years’ experience in executive leadership roles in Asia. Donna brings a wealth of experience from prior executive roles spanning corporate strategy, business development, M&A, corporate sustainability, distribution, product development, finance, and operations.

“She is focused on building strong business relationships with our broker partners and shares Sun Life’s vision of offering best-in-class service to our Clients.”