Yee Hong Honours AGF As Corporate Community Champion

The Chinese Year of the Tiger meets AGF's Sumatran Tiger

TORONTO , Feb. 7 /CNW/ - The Yee Hong Community Wellness Foundation last night honoured AGF Management Limited as Corporate Community Champion during the foundation's annual Dragon Ball fundraiser.

The Corporate Community Champion Award is given to a corporation that supports the non-profit foundation's work in raising funds to maintain the four Yee Hong long-term care facilities in the Greater Toronto Area and the unique continuum of care that they offer to seniors.

"We take great pride in the level of care provided in our four centres," said Dr. Joseph Wong , Founder and Chair of the Foundation. "We also take great pride in the corporate citizens who have stepped up to help us raise the funds necessary to ensure seniors have the quality of life they deserve. AGF has played a tremendous role over the years in our fundraising efforts and helping to connect us with other corporate partners."

This award is sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, who like AGF, is committed to looking beyond the bottom line and integrating corporate responsibility into everything they do as a business. As part of this commitment, PwC encourages its people to share their time, expertise and resources to help make a positive and lasting change in the communities in which they live and work.

In accepting it, Blake C. Goldring, AGF Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, noted that AGF has a strong fundamental belief in giving back to the community and a history of supporting causes, campaigns and charities over its 52-year history. "We are humbled to receive this prestigious award. We have supported the Foundation over the years because the Yee Hong centres are models of respectful care to seniors. The centres are an admirable combination of affection, dynamism and optimism - the same characteristics exhibited by the tiger in this, the Chinese Year of the Tiger," said Goldring, noting that AGF's corporate symbol is a Sumatran tiger.

In addition to its association with Yee Hong , AGF has had a long relationship with the Asian community. In 1991, building on its success with its long-time Japan fund, the company introduced an Asian Growth fund offering investors opportunities to diversify their holdings across a number of different Asian economies. Three years later, it created a Canadian-industry first -- a China Focus fund based on the premise that China was about to become a world economic giant.

AGF has recently expanded its institutional business, opening an office in Hong Kong and appointing Wee Ping Nah as its Managing Director, Asia Pacific.

"AGF's past and present link with the Asian community is strong," Goldring said. "Our future will be even stronger."

About Yee Hong

Yee Hong is a caring community where seniors enjoy a continuum of culturally and linguistically appropriate care. With a client-centred and personalized approach, Yee Hong is currently serving 15,000 seniors and their families across the GTA. As of September 2009 , the waiting list for our long-term care beds has surpassed 2,300, the longest in Ontario. While the care needs of our residents are 9% higher, key quality indicators such as skin breakdown and mortality rates are far below industry averages. In order to sustain our level of care delivery and many community based programs, Yee Hong Community Wellness Foundation needs to raise $2.5 million each year.

About AGF Management Limited

AGF Management Limited is one of Canada's premier investment solutions firms with offices across Canada and subsidiaries around the world. AGF's products and services include a diversified family of award-winning mutual funds, AGF Elements portfolios, the Harmony asset management program, services for institutional and private clients, as well as AGF Trust GICs, loans and mortgages. With approximately $43.4 billion in total assets under management, AGF serves more than one million investors. AGF trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol AGF.B.

For further information: Media, please contact: Henry Chiu, Director, Development & Communications, Yee Hong Community Wellness Foundation, [phone] x1806, [email protected]; Lucy Becker, Vice-President, Public Relations & Public Affairs, AGF Investments Inc., [phone], [email protected]