George Bjurman; Top Adviser to Investors
George David Bjurman, one of Los Angeles’ top money managers, has died. He was 84.
Bjurman died Monday at the UCLA Medical Center of leukemia and heart failure, a spokesman for the family said late Friday.
He had remained active until last year in the investment management firm George D. Bjurman & Associates, which he had founded in 1970. He had served as president and chief executive officer until 1980, when his son Andrew succeeded him.
The company specializes in the management of investment portfolios for corporate pension and profit-sharing plans, cities and states, foundations, endowment funds and individuals.
Bjurman, who was educated at UC Berkeley, began his career in 1930 as a securities analyst at Wells Fargo Bank.
In 1946 he joined Occidental Life Insurance Co., a unit of Transamerica Corp., and remained there until he founded his own company 24 years later. He managed Occidental’s investment holdings, with assets of $1.7 billion, and security holdings of 21 separate Trans-america subsidiaries.
Bjurman was known for his investment philosophy of preserving and appreciating capital by investing in top-quality issues by well-managed companies. At Occidental, he placed the bulk of investment funds in bonds but often pushed the stock proportion to 10%. He never had a loss year in handling common stocks.
“If you’re not increasing the value of your investment portfolio over a representative period at least 15% per year,” he said in an interview with The Times in 1967, “you had better change your investment philosophy or get a new portfolio manager.”
An unabashed lover of his work, Bjurman fit studying securities into his weekends along with golf and oil painting on market themes. One typical canvas featured a background of plus and minus signs slashed by intersecting arcs representing up and down market trends.
“There’s a constant challenge in this business,” he said. “There’s never been a dull day.”
Bjurman is survived by his wife of 53 years, the former Dorothy Kuhlmeyer, his son and his daughter Susan.
The family has asked that memorial donations be made to Regents of UC Leukemia Research, 12-139 CHS, UCLA Medical Center, 10833 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles 90024.
