G. Raymond Chang
G. Raymond Chang, a man deeply respected both on and off Bay Street, died Sunday. He was 65.
Mr. Chang, who helped mould CI Financial Corp. into one of the largest Canadian investment funds, had been in the hospital in recent weeks. He suffered from leukemia, and received a bone marrow transplant from his brother nine months ago.
His death was confirmed by Sheldon Levy, president of Ryerson University, who was at the hospital visiting Mr. Chang the week before he died. Mr. Levy said that at the time everyone was "hopeful" that Mr. Chang would recuperate. "Everyone looked at every positive side as he was on the road to recovery."
The Jamaican-born Chinese Canadian was a legend on Bay Street, serving as CEO of CI Financial for many years as it grew into Canada's third-largest investment fund company, with a market cap today of more than $10-billion.
But Mr. Chang was equally known for his commitment to giving back: He donated upward of $20-million to charitable causes in recent years, giving $5-million to Ryerson University, who named its continuing education school in his honour. Mr. Chang was also chancellor of the university from 2006 through 2012, a role that was his "crowning achievement," according to Bill Holland, chairman of the board at CI Financial, who had worked with Mr. Chang for the past 25 years.
"People know him for his incredible success in business, but being Chinese Jamaican, he had this great interest in helping new Canadians succeed," said Mr. Holland. "In his world, success equated to education. Nobody was more keen on trying to promote education than Ray." Mr. Chang was known as the "chancellor for students," and often attended classes just to understand the student experience.
"A lot of people strive to be rich and famous. His objective was to be generous and anonymous," said Mr. Holland.
Mr. Chang moved from Jamaica to Toronto in 1967. He studied engineering and accounting, later becoming a chartered accountant and chartered financial analyst. Mr. Chang was one of the early founders of CI Financial, becoming vice-president in 1984, when the fund only had $5-million in assets. He wore a number of hats throughout his career at CI, including president, CEO, CFO, COO and chairman of the board, and helped the fund go public in 1996. Mr. Chang was deeply interested in finance as well as in technology, "before tech was in," said Mr. Holland.
At the time of his death, he was still a director of the company, which now has more than $100-billion in assets under management. On Monday, all employees at the CI office were "deeply saddened," said Mr. Holland.
Mr. Chang's generosity extended beyond Ryerson University. He donated $7-million to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, was a board member at Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation, held a chair at the University of Toronto in internal medicine, and founded a fellowship for West Indian doctors. In Jamaica, he provided startup capital to farmers and was also involved in several businesses there.
The renowned philanthropist received the Order of Jamaica in 2011 and the Order of Canada in 2014. He was recognized as "Philanthropist of the year" in 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
He is survived by his wife, Donette Chin-Loy Chang, and his two children.