The 2014 Hedge Fund Rising Stars: Anthony Lawler

In 2008, Anthony Lawler was on a beach in Costa Rica with two friends when one of them was pulled out to sea. Lawler fought against the riptide and saved his pal’s life. Such loyalty and determination, combined with a taste for adventure, characterize Lawler, 40, who also enjoys safaris and contracted dengue fever while exploring the Amazon. (He is now fully recovered.) The Durban, South Africa, native has a BS in finance from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Lawler’s first job in finance was as an M&A analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. in San Francisco. His hedge fund career started in 2002 at Glenwood, the Chicago fund of funds of the U.K.’s Man Group, where he was head of research. He spent eight years in Chicago and London with Man before joining GAM Holding, a $78 billion, Zurich-based investment manager, in late 2011. London-based Lawler is global head of portfolio management and an investment committee member for GAM’s alternative-­investments solutions team.