BGO played a pivotal role in two major Sun Life Financial Inc. transactions that were announced on March 30 and add several billon dollars in value to the financial firm's commercial real estate portfolio.

Sun Life acquired the remaining equity interests in its global real estate investment management advisor, while BGO and multifamily investment and operating company Bell Partners Inc. entered into an agreement to combine their businesses.

BGO is a part of SLC Management, the institutional alternatives and traditional asset management business of Toronto-headquartered Sun Life. It manages $260 billion of third-party assets for over 1,400 institutional clients globally and $165 billion of Sun Life's General Account assets.

BGO serves the interests of more than 750 institutional clients and has approximately $124 billion of office, industrial, multiresidential, retail and hospitality assets under management. Its global headquarters is in Miami and it has offices in 25 cities across 12 countries.

BGO co-president Amy Price recently spoke with RENX about the two deals and their implications, as well as the company’s activities in, and forecast for, the Canadian commercial real estate market.

Sun Life is now BGO’s sole owner

Sun Life formed BGO in July 2019 through the merger of Bentall Kennedy with global real estate investment firm GreenOak, contributing its Bentall Kennedy interest (valued at $482 million at the time of the transaction) and investing $195 million in cash to acquire a 56 per cent majority stake. It has now paid $1.59 billion for the remaining 44 per cent interest, which was funded through debt issuances in 2025. 

“That was Sun Life Financial executing its contractual right to buy out the founder equity that was agreed upon when we essentially acquired Green Oak seven years ago,” Price explained.

As part of the final purchase and go‑forward operating model, SLC Management introduced a management equity plan that allowed eligible employees to collectively own up to 25 per cent of the business. The plan was designed to align interests, retain top talent and support long‑term growth and has seen strong participation.

“It has been a priority to ensure that there’s continued management equity participation and management ownership in the business,” Price said. “We now have ownership in place that's about 75 per cent SLF and about 25 per cent management. That's across all of the Sun Life asset management businesses.”

Agreement with Bell Partners

Greensboro, N.C.-headquartered Bell Partners was founded in 1976 and is a privately held apartment investment and management company focused on multifamily rental communities throughout the United States. It manages approximately 70,000 units in 12 regions and has approximately 1,800 associates in nine offices.

Bell Partners has a vertically integrated national platform that oversees property management, acquisitions, construction, financing, accounting, risk management and related support functions. It had approximately US$10 billion of gross asset value under management as of March 1 and completed approximately US$1.3 billion in acquisitions in 2025.

Sun Life intends to fully acquire Bell Partners for US$350 million, with at least 75 per cent payable in Sun Life common shares. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of this year.

Bell Partners will retain its company and property brand and will continue to operate as a distinct, vertically integrated business under BGO while overseeing the broader company’s U.S. multifamily assets. 

Bell Partners will be led by its existing leadership team – with full accountability for investment strategy, execution and performance – and will maintain its integrated investment and property management model.

Synergy between BGO and Bell Partners

BGO is active in the U.S. multifamily sector and owns about 16,000 units through diversified strategies, but wants to increase its involvement. Price said the company also realizes multifamily is “more operationally intensive” than other asset classes, and saw that its Canadian model with integrated property management and leasing has shown a lot of value.

“In the U.S. we had relied more heavily on joint venture partners and operating partners to add that dimension of expertise," Price said. "So the opportunity to essentially internalize the deep sector-specific expertise, and also the scale that Bell Partners has, was what drove this."

In addition to being attracted to the national breadth of Bell Partners’ platform, Price said there was a cultural alignment between the two companies that was also important.

“The management team was looking to stay, but the family that founded the company and has owned the majority of it for a few generations was ready to have a transition of ownership,” Price said, adding that opportunities to take ownership while retaining previous management aren’t easy to find.

Price expects some people currently reporting to BGO to transition and report to Bell Partners, but she doesn’t anticipate significant job changes. Bell Partners will remain solely focused on the U.S.

BGO in Canada

When asked to assess the Canadian commercial real estate market, Price said she sees “softness in the near term, recovery and strengthening in the mid-term and, longer term, we have a lot of conviction.”

Price said BGO is prioritizing acquisition opportunities at compelling entry points for assets that have been repriced. It's an attractive strategy because it has the ability to hold these assets long-term to “work through a leasing profile and a market strengthening.”

BGO’s current Canadian investment strategy is most keen on multiresidential, industrial and retail properties, while it’s being far more selective when it comes to office since there’s still some uncertainty with the asset class.