TORONTO (Reuters) - Shares of Canadian insurer Manulife Financial Corp rose to a high not seen in more than 15 years on Thursday, after its first-quarter earnings beat analysts' estimates driven by strong growth in Asia, one of its most important markets.

After market close on Wednesday, Manulife reported a 16% jump in core earnings that was boosted by a 39% rise in profit from Asia and 25% in its global wealth and asset management business.

"Solid quarter, led by Asia," National Bank analyst Gabriel Dechaine wrote, highlighting the beat was boosted by releases of credit provisions.

Manulife shares rose as much as 3.5% to C$34.8, their highest price since October 2008.

In Asia, a key market for Canadian insurers seeking global opportunities, the company benefited from demand in Japan, Singapore and China, CFO Colin Simpson said in an interview.

Simpson said Manulife continues to bet on Asian markets including Indonesia and Philippines and was on track to hit its goal of Asia accounting for half of its earnings by 2027, a target it extended by two years earlier this year.

On a conference call on Thursday, Asia head Philip Witherington said the company had diversified its portfolio and developed a "strong footprint within ASEAN."

Manulife has been seeking to cut risk in its insurance portfolio and focus on profitable areas for growth, inking multibillion-dollar reinsurance deals.

Those deals have helped Manulife shares extend their lead over rival Sun Life Financial. So far this year, Manulife shares are up 18% compared with a 6% rise for Sun Life. Still, Manulife trades at 8.8 times its forward earnings, compared with Sun Life's 10.2, according to LSEG data.

Analysts noted that reinsurance deals have not unduly weighed on core profitability, but did take a hit to reported earnings.

"We anticipate that the quarter will be met with some measure of relief from investors and should be supportive to MFC's valuation," Jefferies analyst John Aiken said, noting its return on equity has been maintained above 16% for several quarters, compared with Sun Life's 17%.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto and Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Berkrot)