It is fitting that the simple, time tested and proven AIC Buy. Hold. And Prosper.® philosophy remains the driving force behind the growth of Canada's largest privately held mutual fund organization.

As a company, AIC had modest beginnings but experienced a meteoric rise to success based on a simple disciplined philosophy of founder Michael Lee-Chin.

The foundation of AIC's Buy. Hold. And Prosper.® philosophy is based on what Mr. Lee-Chin now refers to as the "attributes of a champion." To be a champion – a success in life, he says, you must have the character traits of commitment, confidence, determination, discipline, enthusiasm, flexibility, focus, honesty, loyalty, preparedness, respect and passion.

Mr. Lee-Chin brought these "champion" character traits with him to Canada in 1970. Three years after graduating from his study in Civil Engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Mr. Lee-Chin made the now historic decision to throw his hat into the mutual fund sales arena.

As he made his way through the business, he became a staunch proponent of the Warren Buffett "buy-and-hold" investment philosophy. Buffett emphasizes buying strong growth industries and holding them for the long term – a philosophy that's proven very successful for the Omaha-based billionaire and America's second richest citizen.

Embracing Buffett's mantra, Mr. Lee-Chin made a landmark move in 1983. He invested $500,000 to buy Mackenzie Financial Corporation stock, held the investment for a number of years and used the profit to buy a small Kitchener-based investment firm called AIC Limited.

The legend of AIC had taken its first step.

Advantage Investment Counsel, a division of AIC Limited, managed one small mutual fund called AIC Advantage Fund that contained less than $1 million in assets.

The stage was set for a unique saga of growth and success. Pledging to preserve investor capital, grow investor capital and protect it against the ravages of taxes, AIC Advantage Fund soon became the talk of the mutual fund industry.

The growth of AIC was unprecedented. Through the latter part of the '80s and early '90s, Mr. Lee-Chin guided and molded AIC into one of Canada's biggest and most successful mutual fund companies. In 1994 alone, AIC experienced a whopping 34% growth in assets, more than three times the industry growth rate.

Along the way he built a first-rate portfolio management team to handle a growing AIC fund portfolio. Today, the award-winning AIC Portfolio Management Team boasts some of the most experienced in-house managers and analysts, all of whom adhere to the same simple and successful Buy. Hold. And Prosper.® investment philosophy that's vaulted AIC to the top.

Promising to protect and grow capital and protect it against the negative forces of taxation, the AIC team has created long-term wealth for more than 500,000 Canadian investors since the mid '80s.

However, it all goes back to Michael Lee-Chin's vision, in concert with the time-tested and disciplined Buy. Hold. And Prosper.® investment philosophy that has spurred AIC growth to become one of Canada's top mutual fund companies.

Today, AIC manages over $8 billion in assets and features a growing portfolio of mutual funds, segregated funds and corporate class funds.

Learn more about AIC and its success since 1985 through the AIC Chairman's Message and Archived Chairman's Messages.

• The AIC Story
• Careers
• Community Giving
• Philanthropy
• Compliance &
  Code of Ethics
• Independent Review Committee
• Awards
• Contact Us
• Technical Support