Canada's Sun Life Financial Inc reported a rise in first-quarter profit on Thursday as strong insurance sales in the United States market outweighed weakness in its asset management unit.

The company posted underlying net income of C$895 million ($669.31 million), or C$1.52 per share, for the three months ended March 31, compared with C$720 million, or C$1.23 per share, a year earlier.

($1 = 1.3372 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)