5/16/2000

Growth 1. Affiliated Managers 2. Concord Communications 3. Sapient Corp. 4. Biogen Inc. 5. DeWolfe Cos. The Growth 50

Seven years ago, a sharp businessman named William J. Nutt used $1 million of his own money to fund a Boston start-up dubbed Affiliated Managers Group.

That investment has more than paid off. Today, Nutt stands at the helm of a $90 billion-plus asset-management empire with more than a dozen midsize management firms. For 1999, Affiliated Managers Group claimed the top spot on The Globe's Growth 50 ranking.

In January, the company added $5 billion to its portfolio by buying Frontier Capital Management Co., a manager of growth stocks.

And he's looking for more. Nutt is scouring international markets for growth, possibly through partnerships. Although Europe has lagged behind the United States in retirement investing, he believes the same trend that has helped boost the financial markets here will take hold overseas.

Nutt has a simple, hands-off strategy. He believes in building his company by taking on partial ownership stakes in money management firms. He shrewdly leaves shares in the hands of existing managers, believing they will have more incentive to perform.

After an unprofitable Affiliated Managers went public in 1997, it turned the corner the following year. Fueled by acquisitions and other gains, the firm's profits nearly tripled last year to $72.2 million from $25.6 million in 1998. Revenue more than doubled to $518.7 million.

STEPHANIE STOUGHTON