Fund-of-funds veteran Gary Potter is to retire from front-line fund management at the end of 2022’s first quarter to spend more time with his family. 
Potter, co-head of the multi-manager team at BMO Global Asset Management (EMEA), has been in the fund management industry for more than 40 years. He has worked alongside co-head Rob Burdett for more than 25 years; the two set up one of the very first multi-manager businesses in the 1990s.
Strategies managed by Potter and Burdett’s team include the £543m BMO MM Navigator Distribution, £420m BMO MM Lifestyle 5 and £223m BMO MM Navigator Cautious funds.
Potter’s responsibilities will be transitioned to the wider BMO multi-manager team over the coming months. As well as sharing overall responsibility for the performance of the team’s portfolios with Burdett, he leads research into UK income, US, Asia and emerging market equities.
Burdett will become sole head of the team when Potter retires and will be supported by a team of eight people, including senior partners Kelly Prior, Anthony Willis, Scott Spencer and Paul Green. Potter will remain available, exclusively, as a consultant to the team.
“After 41 years in the industry, I believe now is a good time to reflect on my career and set a course for the next few years of my life, allowing me to spend more time with my family,” Potter said.
“As I reflect on my time in the industry, we have seen our clients through some of the biggest market events in history, including the dotcom bubble, the global financial crisis, and, most recently, the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Looking ahead, I am stepping back at a really exciting and positive time for our team. Our fund performance has recovered strongly since the vaccination announcement date in November 2020 and we have a new corporate partner in Columbia Threadneedle, full of enthusiasm and wanting to take our business to the next level.”
Potter started his career in 1981 in private client fund management before moving into the multi-manager field in 1992. Over the past four decades, he has spent time at Rothschild Asset Management, Credit Suisse, Thames River Capital, F&C Asset Management and BMO Global Asset Management.
Burdett said: “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.”