FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Copernican Capital Corp. Commences Operation

BURLINGTON, ONTARIO - As co-founders, Jonathan Wellum, Christopher Lowe, Vicki Ringelberg, John Miller and AIC are pleased to announce the formation of Copernican Capital Corp.

Copernican Capital will structure and offer retail investment products, primarily marketed by investment bankers including all major Canadian investment dealers which comprise the securities licenced broker-dealer network.

Copernican Capital’s approach will be to offer conservative, income generating products focused on capital preservation, absolute returns and tax-efficient distributions.

"The key differentiator with Copernican Capital is independent thinking," said Jonathan Wellum, Chairman. "Thinking outside of the box and being contrarian in terms of investment opportunities is indicative in our name. Years ago, it was believed that the earth was the centre of the universe and Copernicus proved it was the sun instead. It's that kind of paradigm thinking that inspired us to choose the name. We want to be paradigm shifters and think differently than the market place."

"Copernican Capital's credo will be to place the client at the centre of everything we do," said Chris Lowe, Chief Executive Officer. "We aim to gain a reputation for principled, well conceived product development, delivered through competitively priced and equitable investor terms, which we’ll uphold by requiring Copernican shareholders and officers to align their interests with investors by co-investing."

Copernican Capital brings to market a combination of strong expertise through its Board of Directors' over 70 years combined experience. Strength of leadership, portfolio management, business operations and sales capabilities will be the hallmark of success for Copernican Capital Corp.

Board of Directors

Jonathan Wellum, MBA, CFA, Chairman has more than 15 years of investment experience. He has been associated with AIC since 1990 and in 1995, was named Fund Manager of the Year, Investment Executive magazine and again in 1997 – named Fund Manager of the Year, Canadian Mutual Fund Awards Gala. In 1999, he was named among Canada’s Top 40 under 40. He co-founded Georgian Capital Partners Inc. in 1999, served as its CEO and as a Director and provided sub-advisory services for AIC Diversified Canada Fund and AIC American Advantage Fund. He returned to AIC upon AIC’s acquisition of Georgian in June 2002 and in August 2002 was appointed Chief Investment Officer.

Chris Lowe, MBA, Chief Executive Officer, has over 24 years of global financial services experience, working in four continents. A Senior Executive of Barclays Bank (1994-2000) he was CEO of Barclays’ businesses in Greece (1994-1995) and Botswana (1997-2000). The “Banker” magazine ranked Barclays as the “Best Bank” in Botswana and the “Best Bank” in Africa in 2000. Thereafter, as CEO of the National Commercial Bank Jamaica, Limited (“NCB”) he led the financial services group to recognition as the world’s 14th highest profits growth performer in 2002. After AIC’s acquisition of NCB, he joined AIC in October, 2002.

Vicki Ringelberg, MBA, CMA, Chief Financial Officer, has more than 18 years experience in the investment management industry. Having prior responsibilities including managing key departments at AIC - client services, operations and accounting, she was appointed Chief Financial Officer of AIC in 2002 and in 2005 also became Chief Operating Officer.

John Miller, B.Comm (Hon), Executive Vice President, has over 17 years of investment, sales and corporate finance experience. Prior to joining AIC in 1996, he gained corporate finance and investment analyst experience during six years at RoyNat Capital Inc.

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Terri Oswald
Director, Media Relations
AIC Limited, Burlington ON
(905) 331-4242, ext. 4345
1-888-710-4242, ext. 4345
toswald@aic.com