Birla Sun Life Insurance will facilitate access to multinational clients of Generali Employee Benefits (GEB) located in India for their employee benefit programmes

21 December 2004

Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI) is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with Assicurazioni Generali SpA to be the exclusive Indian member of the Generali Employee Benefits (GEB) Network, enabling Birla Sun Life Insurance to facilitate access to employee benefit programmes for MNCs operating out of India.

GEB Network, established in 1966, is a strategic business unit within the Generali Group, one of the largest insurance companies in the world, based in Trieste, Italy. With a presence in 76 countries, GEB Network is one of the leading networks in the world, offering access to a range of innovative and leading edge employee benefits solutions to multinational employers.

"India is a pivotal country for the Generali Employee Benefits Network," said Sergio Di Caro, Regional General Manager, Generali Group. "In order to service our international clients, we need a strong and reliable local partner company. Given its leading position and excellent reputation in the Indian employee benefits market, we are delighted to have Birla Sun Life Insurance represent the network on an exclusive basis in India."

Through the GEB Network, Birla Sun Life Insurance Group Life and Pensions team will have access to MNC clients, which are part of the GEB network. The MNC companies and other large Indian corporates will have access to employee benefit experts from providers around the world to help them navigate the legal, technical and social issues related to benefits. In addition to its participation as Canadian provider, Sun Life Financial is also the GEB Network's exclusive provider in the US and North America.

"This exclusive partnership with GEB Network extends our own benefits capabilities significantly. The GEB Network and Sun Life Financial Inc. relationship in Canada and the US provides a foundation to build the Indian partnership," said Nani Javeri, CEO, Birla Sun Life Insurance. "It means we can go beyond the ordinary and develop solutions that are tailor-made for each employer, whether they are national or global."

The GEB Network globally offers employers the advantages of multinational pooling. These innovative funding arrangements combine the benefit plan experience of a MNC's local subsidiaries in various countries into a single, global pool. This helps reduce costs for the company's international benefits programmes and provides greater financial control.

Birla Sun Life Insurance

Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI) continues to show one of the fastest growths amongst the private life insurers on the back of its unit-linked plans. New business premium income (annualised with 10 per cent credit for single [remium) of BSLI at Rs 286 crore, as of October 2004, has shown a 189 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year. The premium revenue for the period stood at Rs 380 crore registering a growth of 205 per cent.

The company has covered in excess of 6,75,000 lives since inception and the total sum assured has crossed Rs 20,900 crore. During the current financial year the branch network of BSLI will increase to 44 in 33 cities.

BSLI offers a complete suite of employee benefits plans like Group Gratuity, Group Superannuation, Group Term, and Group EDLI. The company plans to further strengthen the product range with Group Leave Encashment and Superannuation with combined employee account.

BSLI clearly is the leader in providing "Fund Management" services to corporates. Today BSLI has established a relationship with more than 100 bluechip corporates across the country. The company has the unique expertise in providing end-to-end solutions for employee retirement benefits.

BSLI has recently won three of the most prestigious honours.

• Ranking amongst the top 5 in all of Asia in the Asian Insurance Industry awards 2004
• The only insurance company to feature in the top 25 of "The Hewitt Best Employer in India - 2004" survey
• The o nly insurance company to feature in the top 25 of "The Hewitt Best Employer in India - 2004" survey
• Ranked in the top 20 of the "Grow Talent - Great Places to work" survey

About the Aditya Birla Group

The Aditya Birla Group has a turnover exceeding Rs 28,000 crore (as on March 31, 2004), and is one of the largest business houses in India. It enjoys a leadership position in all the sectors in which it operates. With over 75 business units, spanning the South East Asian belt, Africa, Canada and the UK among others, it is reckoned as India's first multinational corporation. The group is anchored by 72,000 employees and has 7 lakh shareholders, with an asset base of over Rs 23,000 crore.

About Sun Life Financial Inc.

Sun Life Financial Inc. is a leading international financial services organisation providing a diverse range of wealth accumulation and protection products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Tracing its roots back to 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda. As of March 31, 2004, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of USD 282 billion.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under ticker symbol "SLF".

Additional information can be found at: www.sunlife.com