Sun Life Financial Inc., the Toronto-based financial services group, has completed its acquisition of Bell Partners, a US multifamily real estate investment manager and vertically integrated property management business.
Sun Life acquired a 100% interest in Bell Partners for a purchase price of $350 million, with approximately 80% paid in Sun Life common shares.
Bell Partners will continue to operate as a distinct, vertically integrated business under BGO, Sun Life's global real estate investment management arm, and will oversee the broader company's US multifamily assets. The Greensboro, North Carolina-based firm will retain its current leadership, branding, office locations, investment vehicles and client focus.
Founded in 1976, Bell Partners has approximately US$10 billion of gross asset value under management and close to 1,800 employees across nine US offices, managing roughly 65,000 to 70,000 apartment homes in 12 regions spanning markets such as Seattle, Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Led by a senior management team averaging 27 years of experience, the firm has completed nearly US$12 billion in realized apartment transactions since 2002.
Sonny Kalsi, president and CEO of SLC Management, said the deal gives Sun Life vertically integrated property management capabilities, positioning the company as one of the leading US multifamily investment managers.
Amy Price, co-president of BGO, said the acquisition reflects the firm's confidence in the US multifamily market and complements BGO's existing expertise in commercial and logistics real estate.
PJT Partners served as exclusive financial advisor to Sun Life, with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison acting as legal counsel on the transaction.
The Bell Partners deal follows Sun Life's completion, in March 2026, of its acquisition of the remaining equity interests in both BGO and Crescent Capital Group, its global alternative credit investment manager.
With Bell Partners now folded in, BGO oversees approximately $100 billion in assets under management across more than 750 institutional clients and offices in over 25 cities in 12 countries. BGO sits within SLC Management, Sun Life's institutional alternatives and traditional asset management business, which had $308 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2026, part of a broader push by the Canadian insurer to grow fee-based earnings from asset management alongside its core insurance and wealth business.
The deal lands as the US multifamily sector works through the tail end of its largest supply wave in decades.
The National Association of Home Builders reported that the national multifamily vacancy rate hit a record 7.3% in December 2025, with national rents down roughly 1% year over year and property values off about 4% for the year, though values remained roughly 8% above 2019 levels.
Even so, sentiment has begun to shift as new construction slows sharply from its post-pandemic peak. Apartment investment volume reached US$165.5 billion in 2025, the second consecutive year of growth and above the 15-year annual average, according to Arbor Realty Trust, with average cap rates of 5.7%, the tightest among major commercial property types.
Industry forecasters broadly expect vacancy to approach its cycle peak in 2026 as completions taper, setting up what several commercial real estate analysts describe as a more favorable entry point for well-capitalized, long-term investors.
For Sun Life, folding a vertically integrated operator like Bell Partners directly into BGO gives the platform more direct control over leasing and asset performance just as the broader multifamily market begins to stabilize.
