WRAPUP 3-Canadian insurer results hit by market downturn

* Manulife Q1 share loss C$0.67 vs EPS C$0.57 last year

* Sun Life Q1 share loss C$0.38 vs EPS C$0.93 last year

* Great-West profit of C$0.345 EPS vs C$0.552 last year

* Declines in equity markets drive down results

* Manulife, Sun Life shares sink, Great-West up (Adds fund manager comment)

By Andrea Hopkins

TORONTO, May 7 (Reuters) - Canada's three largest insurers reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results on Thursday, hurt by ailing stock markets, credit impairments and the need to shore up reserves.

Manulife Financial Corp (MFC.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), Canada's largest insurer, posted a first-quarter loss of C$1.07 billion ($916 million), or 67 Canadian cents a share, compared with a profit of C$869 million, or 57 Canadian cents a share, a year earlier.

That was worse than analysts' expectations of a loss of 37 Canadian cents, according to Reuters Estimates.