A high-profile, former growth portfolio manager and fundster entrepreneur passed away on Christmas Day at the age of 85.

Gary Pilgrim died on December 25 after fighting Alzheimer's, MFWire has learned. He was a co-founder and former president of the fund firm Pilgrim Baxter.

Gary Louis Pilgrim was born in Nowata, Oklahoma on November 5, 1940. The Eagle Scout and clarinet player attended East Central University and served in the U.S. Army (where he played in the band), then later earned an MBA at Drexel University.

He joined Philadelphia National Bank's trainee program before becoming a loan officer and later joining the trust department. In 1982, Pilgrim and three of his bank colleagues — Harold Baxter, George Greig, and Stephen Hoyt — left and launched Pilgrim, Baxter, Hoyt & Greig (PBH&G). Hoyt & Greig later left, and the firm's name was thus shortened to Pilgrim Baxter & Associates.

At first, PBH&G focused on institutional asset management for pension funds. In 1985, the firm launched the PBHG Growth Fund, a mutual fund with a load and with Pilgrim as PM. However, the fund switched to no-load in 1993, and its strong performance pushed it, Pilgrim, and the firm into the spotlight.

United Asset Management bought Pilgrim Baxter in 1995, with Baxter and Pilgrim both staying on; the latter served as president and chief investment officer. Old Mutual bought UAM in 2000 (again keeping Pilgrim Baxter's chiefs on) and Pilgrim passed off the CIO role in 2001.

Yet Baxter and Pilgrim were both among the fundsters who fell during the market-timing scandals of the early 2000s. The duo resigned in 2003, facing SEC action and scrutiny from Eliot Spitzer (then-attorney general of New York). Pilgrim and Baxter's 2004 settlement deal with the SEC permanently barred them from the industry. Also in 2004, Old Mutual rebranded Pilgrim Baxter as Liberty Ridge Capital. In 2009, Old Mutual absorbed those funds into its own funds group and shut down Liberty Ridge.

Pilgrim's family and friends remember him as a regular jogger, a devout Christian, a doodler of stick figures, and a lover of dogs, Elvis, Oklahoma University football, popcorn, and the wilderness. He is survived by his wife (whom he met in 8th grade), two children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, Pilgrim's family is directing donations in Pilgrim's memory to Angel's Retreat dog rescue. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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