Gary Potter is retiring from BMO Global Asset Management after more than 40 years in the fund management industry.
Alongside Rob Burdett, Potter has run the multi-manager team at BMO since 2007, and will remain with the team on a consultancy basis.
Potter will gradually transfer his responsibilities to the wider team over the next few months and Burdett will become sole head of the multi-manager team, which currently runs £2.1bn.
He will be supported by a team of eight, including Kelly Prior, Anthony Willis, Scott Spencer and Paul Green.
Potter said that after 41 years in the industry, now was a good time to reflect on his career.
He said: “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Rob Burdett for over 25 years, building our team, the businesses, and funds we have managed, and developed many associated relationships for which I am very grateful for, especially with our clients.
"During my time of working with Rob and the wider team, we have delivered strong long-term investment returns for our clients.
“I am hugely proud of what we have achieved together, and it gives me great joy to know we have positively contributed towards helping people save for their retirement and other life goals.”
Burdett said Potter’s experience, professionalism and integrity have played a huge role in creating the ten-strong multi-manager team that he is “exceptionally proud of”.
He added: “As co-head and as a friend, I want to thank Gary for everything that he has done for our team, the time and commitment he has given to deliver strong long-term investment performance for our clients, and the abundance of enthusiasm and passion he has bought to the industry to do the best by investors.
“While Gary’s retirement is bitter-sweet, the team and I are excited about the future and the ways in which we will continue to support our clients through some of the most fast-moving and complex periods that the markets and broader industry are currently faced with.”
Potter and Burdett were first brought together at Rothschild in 1996 when they became co-heads of a newly launched fund of funds service.
Expanding the business from £110m to £1bn, the duo moved to Credit Suisse in 2001 to set up a fund of funds business from scratch.
After building up assets to around £1.3bn, Thames River came knocking with a business model using a joint venture limited liability partnership structure, which the managers saw “as a way to insulate us from corporate change”.
Earlier this year Colombia Threadneedle bought BMO's European asset management business after a deal was struck with its parent company Ameriprise Financial.
The deal is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of the year.
Darius McDermott, managing director of FundCalibre, said: “The fact that Gary will also be available as a consultant to the management team gives us additional confidence and, as a result, the BMO MM Navigator Distribution fund will retain its Elite rating.”
“There are very few fund managers who can say they’ve built three fund of fund businesses into billion pound franchises during their career.”
He added that the fact Potter and Burdett had managed to achieve such success was testament to their long-term performance through numerous market cycles.
“You do not build numerous fund of fund franchises with a strong adviser and retail following without [such performance].
“We wish Gary well after his 40 years in the industry and remain confident in Rob and his eight-strong team at BMO, many of whom are senior partners in the business, a number of whom have spent 15 or so years in the team."
Ben Yearsley, investment consultant at Fairview Investing, said it would be interesting to see the firm’s succession plan emerge.
“That’s the problem with any fund, if you’ve got a very high profile person, or people, what’s your succession plan when one of those retires," he said.
“It’ll be interesting to see how to team works going forwards."
sally.hickey@ft.com
