Kopp Investments closing as Lee Kopp retires at 84

Investment manager Lee Kopp is calling it a career after 60 years.

Kopp, 84, will officially retire later this year and close Kopp Investment Advisors, which he founded in 1990, after nearly 30 years as a financial advisor and executive with the former Dain Bosworth.

Kopp's retirement will allow him to focus on the Kopp Family Foundation and managing family investments trough the Kopp family office.

"I could not be more grateful for the trust you have placed in me and the Kopp Investment Advisors team," Kopp said in a statement to friends and investors.

Kopp has focused as a private money manager since he sold the firm's two publicly traded mutual funds in 2006 to the much-larger American Century mutual fund complex.

In the press statement, Kopp Investment said its flagship "Emerging Growth Strategy" has "significantly outperformed" the S&P 500 and its benchmark fund, the Russell 2000 small-company index from inception in 1990 through Dec. 31, 2018.

Kopp, son of a parking lot attendant, grew up in North Minneapolis, put himself through the University of Minnesota and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy before joining Dain as a trainee.

He received numerous industry awards over his career.

Kopp and his wife, Barbara, have become as well known in recent years for their philanthropy.

The Kopp Family Foundation has donated more than $55 million in scholarships, particularly to working class students attending community colleges, nonprofits that support women, youth development and the elderly, and those that provide emergency shelter and transportation.

The Kopps started the foundation in 1987 with $70,000 in appreciated stock.

"Lee and Barbara have touched many lives. We are beyond grateful for their generosity, support, and investment in higher education," said Michelle Boe, executive director of the foundations for Dakota County Technical College and Inver Hills Community College Foundation.