Sun Life Financial is carrying out its ERM and ORSA analysis. The company seeks to develop sophisticated and mathematically sound internal models that would serve as company's own risk measurement tools for EC evaluations, provide continuing insights into the appropriate risk management routes, as well as be a benchmark against the RC required by the OSFI.

A recent meta-analysis of wellness program research literature, phase 1 of the project described in this proposal, suggests that wellness programs reduce absenteeism, resulting in an average savings of $251 per employee per year. These results are similar to those of a team from Harvard University, whose findings suggest a return on investment (ROI) of $3.27 for every dollar invested in wellness programs. Thus, programs which generate strong employee health outcomes may also generate substantial savings for the employer, thereby supporting a business case for workplace wellness strategies.

This project aims to measure the credit risk of Sun Life structured assets portfolio. The objective is to evaluate the accuracy of different methods to assess the credit risk of these types of financial instruments and to evaluate their advantages and limitations. Two methods are proposed to assess structured finance assets risk: Loan Equivalent Approach and Look Through Approach. The former is a practical representation of the structured asset as a traditional debt instrument.

Depression is expected to become the second leading cause of disease burden worldwide by the year 2020. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective methods of treatment for depression. CBT may be less effective, or ineffective, in the setting of patients in receipt of disability benefits who are likely to, on average, suffer worse outcomes than patients not receiving benefits. Currently, there is no review that has systematically assessed the effectiveness of CBT in patients suffering from depression and in receipt of disability benefits.