Michael Lee-Chin is Chairman of Portland

Holdings Inc., his Canadian based investments

holding company. His investment holding company
Portland JSX Ltd. raise J$1.23 billion (US $9.8
million)

in

June

2016

IPO

which

was

oversubscribed by 23.5%, making it the largest IPO

of ordinary shares ever seen on the Jamaica Stock
Exchange. Mr. Lee-Chin stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of AIC Limited on
October 4, 2006, then sold AIC's Canadian retail investment fund business to Manulife
Financial on August 12, 2009. His largest single investment currently is a CAD $560
million stake in National Commercial Bank (Jamaica). Robert L. Johnson and Michael LeeChin were the first black people to be listed on Forbes magazines annual ranking of the
World's Billionaires in 2001. Forbes mistakenly listed Mr. Johnson as the only black
billionaire not recognizing Mr. Lee-Chin as being black.
Mr. Lee-Chin is not currently listed on the Forbes Billionaires list since most of
his current assets are privately held. His last appearance on the Forbes Billionaires
list was in 2009 as the 937th richest person in the world, with a net worth of $1
billion but has been dropped from the magazine's billionaires list since 2011.
However on Canadian Business magazine's 100 Richest Canadians list, his Net worth
is estimated at USD $2.46 billion (CAD $3.26 billion), as of December 2016.
Born in Port Antonio, Jamaica in 1951, Mr. Lee-Chin immigrated to Canada in
1970 to study civil engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. After
beginning

post-graduate

studies,

Mr.

Lee-Chin

decided

to

explore

career

opportunities within the mutual fund industry. At the age of 26, Mr. Lee-Chin became
a financial advisor and, with growing success, progressed to the position of branch
manager.
In 1983, at the age of 32, Mr. Lee-Chin borrowed money to purchase $500,000
of Mackenzie Financial stock. After four years, this stock appreciated seven-fold, and

Mr. Lee-Chin used the profits to make his first acquisition, a small Ontario-based
investment firm called AIC Limited. At that time, Advantage Investment Counsel (a
division of AIC Limited) had assets under management of just $800,000. Within 20
years, assets under management for this 1987 acquisition had surpassed $4 billion.
AIC Limited was to become the first in a series of acquisitions for Mr. Lee-Chin,
Chairman, Portland Holdings Inc.
Mr. Lee-Chin has distinct beliefs regarding wealth creation, role models, and his
firm's investment strategy. AIC's goal is to create long-term wealth for investors. To
achieve that objective, Mr. Lee-Chin looked for role models those business
people who created wealth in society by owning one or two businesses. For this
reason, Mr. Lee-Chin established AIC's investment philosophy of buying few
excellent businesses in long-term growth sectors and holding these businesses for
the long term in order to help AIC investors prosper by preserving and growing their
capital and minimizing taxes.
As a result of his investment philosophy, AIC stands today as one of the largest
privately held mutual fund companies in Canada. Mr. Lee-Chin was named
Entrepreneur of the Year in 1997. In 2002, he earned the Harry Jerome Award for a
decade of achievement. Mr. Lee-Chin has been profiled in Forbes, Fortune, Canadian
Business, Black Enterprise, National Post and Time magazines.
Following the acquisition of AIC Limited in 1987, Mr. Lee-Chin set about
developing the Berkshire group of companies comprising an investment planning
arm, a securities dealership, and an insurance services operation. Under Mr. LeeChin's stewardship, Berkshire was able to amass more than $12 billion of assets
under administration by 2007. At that time, Berkshire had also grown to form a
network of 750 financial advisors operating in 250 offices across Canada. In 2007,
Manulife acquired Berkshire from Portland Holdings in exchange for shares, making
Portland one of the most significant shareholders of Manulife.

In 2002, Portlands interests expanded internationally with the acquisition of

National Commercial Bank (NCB) Jamaica Ltd. and its subsidiaries. Since becoming
part of the Portland group, NCB profits have increased to approximately US$100
million from US$6 million. NCB today stands as Jamaica's largest bank with 45
branches, 2,400 employees, and offices in the Caymans and the United Kingdom.
NCB was awarded the Latin Finance 2007 Bank of the Year Award.
In April 2006, Portland acquired an 85% controlling stake in the United
General Insurance Company, the largest auto insurer in Jamaica, and renamed the
firm Advantage General Insurance Company. A controlling interest in CVM
Communications Group (consisting of radio and television stations and newspapers)
was purchased at the same time. Portland partnered with Risley Group to form
Columbus Communications Ltd., a Barbados corporation that holds controlling
interest in a number of telecommunications providers in the Caribbean including
Cable Bahamas Ltd., Caribbean Crossings Ltd., Merit Communications Ltd. and Fibra
Link Jamaica Ltd.
In the tourism sector, Mr. Lee-Chin has guided Portland through a number of
acquisitions in the Caribbean. Among them, the Trident Villas and Spa in Jamaica,
Reggae Beach and Blue Lagoon.

The first Portland acquisition in the

healthcare industry sector was announced by Mr. Lee-Chin in July 2006, when
Medical Associates Limited, a privately held hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, joined the
Portland group.
In November 2003, Mr. Lee-Chin received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree
from McMaster University in recognition of his business success and philanthropic
initiatives, and in July 2004 was honoured by Time magazine as one of Canada's
Heroes and one of the country's most intriguing and inspiring citizens. In 2008, Mr.
Lee-Chin received one of Jamaica's highest national honours "The Order of Jamaica,"
for his significant contributions to business and philanthropy. On Oct. 28, 2011, the

self-made billionaire became the chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo,

Ontario, Canada.
"If you aim at nothing you'll hit it with amazing accuracy."