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May 13 (Reuters) - Canadian insurer Manulife Financial MFC.TO reported a rise in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by strong performance in its Asia unit.

Core earnings from Asia jumped 22% to $598 million during the reported quarter, while global wealth and asset management rose 2% to C$448 million.

"Asia achieved another strong quarter, with 22% growth in core earnings and 15% growth in new business value, reflecting robust contributions from key markets in the region," CEO Phil Witherington said in a statement.

Profit attributable to shareholders in Manulife's Canada units rose 7%.

Shares of the insurer have gained about 9.6% year-to-date, compared with a 13.2% gain for smaller peer Sun Life SLF.TO, which also reported a higher quarterly profit last week.

The company's core earnings came in at C$1.84 billion ($1.34 billion), or C$1.06 per share, for the three months ended March 31, compared with C$1.77 billion, or 99 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.

($1 = 1.3702 Canadian dollars)