Sun Life profit rises 1.4% on boost from asset management

(Reuters) - Canadian insurer Sun Life Financial Inc <SLF.TO> reported a 1.4% growth in second-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by growth in its asset management business.

Underlying net income in the Toronto-based company's asset management business grew 13% to C$245 million ($185.6 million).

The company ended the quarter with total assets under management of C$1.02 trillion, up 4% from a year earlier.

Sun Life's adjusted net income in its Asia unit rose 1% to C$147 million, while it slipped in the United States and Canada.

Canadian insurers have increasingly pivoted to Asia for growth, looking to sell to the region's increasingly affluent middle class as domestic markets face intense competition.

Excluding one-time items, the company's net income rose to C$739 million, or C$1.24 per share, in the three months ended June 30, from C$729 million, or C$1.20 per share, a year earlier. (https://reut.rs/2OwysET)

Analysts on average had expected C$1.24 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Abhishek Manikandan in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr and Sriraj Kalluvila)