(Adds details on Q1 earnings)
May 2 (Reuters) - Manulife Financial Corp MFC.TO reported an 18.3 percent jump in first-quarter earnings on Wednesday as Canada's largest insurer gained from robust demand in Asia.
Canadian insurance companies are expanding rapidly in Asia, selling products to a growing middle class. The strategy is helping the firms drive growth and diversify from domestic markets where competition is intense.
Manulife has benefited from a partnership with Singapore's DBS Group DBSM.SI , agreed in 2015, through which it sells its products through the lender's Asian branch network.
The company said its total core earnings rose to C$1.3 billion ($1.01 billion), or 64 Canadian cents per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from C$1.1 billion, or 53 Canadian cents, a year earlier. earnings from the company's Asia division rose 19.6 pct to C$427 million in the quarter.
($1 = 1.29 Canadian dollars)