Meet the manager: Gareth Powell
Manager of Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust.
If you weren’t a fund manager, what job would you do?
My dream job would have to be playing cricket for England in the summer and football for Newcastle in the winter.
What was the proudest moment of your career?
Launching the Healthcare Opportunities Fund at Polar. We went live December 2007, and it was exciting but also a massive challenge. Q4 2008 was terrifying but we made it through. From there we were able to build out more funds including the investment trust in 2010, which was close to the start of a five-year bull market in healthcare.
What was the most difficult moment of your career and why?
That would be March 2020, the challenges of the pandemic. Working in that environment was just bizarre and being high-risk meant I didn’t go back to the office for a long time – it was very strange returning to an office.
Never give up – at any stage of life, whether it’s school, university, finding a job you want to do, the challenges of the job.
Gareth Powell, manager of Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust
What advice would you give to your 20-year-old self?
Never give up – at any stage of life, whether it’s school, university, finding a job you want to do, the challenges of the job. This means for me trying to outperform consistently and when it’s not going well, never giving up on trying to improve performance.
Away from the workplace, how do you spend your time?
I really enjoy a good game of golf if I have the chance to play. Although it’s quite tricky playing golf and trying to entertain my two-year-old son!!
Tell us about the last book you read?
I recently read ‘Bobby Robson – Farewell but Not Goodbye’. I am a Geordie and was excited to read this. I think for me this was an example of never giving up on what you like doing and doing your best in the right way.
What is your favourite film of all time and why?
My favourite film would have to be ET. It was the first film I saw at the cinema. I think I was seven or eight years old and went with my folks. The story was just incredible – at least it was when I was seven or eight, I haven’t watched it since.
In your personal life, what would you like to achieve in the next 12 months?
I’d like to learn how to relax. It’s hard when managing a portfolio not to think about it all the time, so making an effort to have down time is so important and has to be good for your health. Stress sure isn’t!
