Jamaican-Canadian Billionaire Shares Wealth Creation Tips

Category: Canada Connect Created on Saturday, 05 March 2011 12:38

Jamaican-Canadian billionaire Michael Lee-Chin gave an engaging presentation at the February Luncheon of the Barbados Business Association (BIBA), where he dismissed the notion that portfolio diversification is key to building wealth.

Forbes Magazine heralds Lee-Chin as one of the world's wealthiest business people. He was born in 1951 in Port Antonio, Jamaica. In 1970 he moved to Canada and studied Civil Engineering. At  26 years old, Michael became a financial advisor and today he is one of the world's wealthiest persons.

During his presentation at the luncheon where where he addressed the topic,  “Prosperity through Challenging Conventional Paradigms” Lee-Chin outlined five principles drawn from the successes of America’s wealthiest investors, Warren Buffet in particular.

His principles state that first, wealth is created by owning a few high quality businesses; secondly, that wealth is created when the person owning those few businesses fully understands them; third, that the businesses owned are in long-term growth industries; fourth, that financing is done by prudently using other people’s money; and fifth, that the few businesses owned are owned for the long-run.

Speaking to a packed audience Lee-Chin also told them that wealth is created by entrepreneurs who can be very nimble and creative. He also had some advice for individuals who wanted tips on increasing their finances by telling them that the principles that he was promoting were not only for the wealthy but could be used by them. He advised individual investors to invest in a few companies in long-term growth industries and if the investor did not understand the industry in which he or she wanted to invest, he or she should draw on expert advice from someone who did.

Forbes Magazine in 2006 ranked Michael as one of the six black billionaires in the world. He recently formed a $1 billion private equity group based in Toronto to invest in the Caribbean.

Lee-Chin’s investment firm is Portland Investment Counsel.