JOHN Dodd is living the dream. He is successful, rich, content, and well-respected both by his colleagues and peers. Above all, as one of the founders of the boutique Edinburgh fund management firm Artemis, he is his own boss.

However, his relaxed appearance in jeans and open-neck shirt belies a tension. It soon becomes clear that he is fed up with answering questions from journalists about his ''investment process''.

''Look, all this stuff has been written about endlessly in lots of other publications.''

With this, he dashes out of the room to fetch the evidence, returning moments later with enough investment trade magazines to start a small bonfire.

''I've been a fund manager for 19 years and frankly if I can't pick stocks now, I shouldn't be in a job.''

His reaction is much like a gifted actor or sports star who is worn out by the same questions about his talent.

However, it is precisely because his investment performance consistently stands out in a sea of mediocrity that journalists

continue to find him, and Artemis, interesting.

Dodd, 42, manages the (pounds) 284m UK Small Companies fund for Artemis. According to figures from TrustNet, the fund ranks 12th from 72 over one year, sixth over three years, and it is the top-performing fund over five years, with a staggering 197% investment gain in the period.

Considering stock markets have atrophied in the last three years, Dodd's figures make the job appear easy.

''It's a very focused job - it's not easy, it's far from easy. There are a number of people who don't do the job as well, and there are tons who do it better.''

Dodd set up Artemis with co-founders Mark Tyndall and Derek Stuart, all of whom left Ivory & Sime before the Edinburgh investment house was sold to Friends Provident in 1997.

They wanted to set up a business that reflected their own values and personality. The most visible evidence of this is that all employees are casually, though not scruffily, attired.

Additionally, Dodd is keen for fund managers to be stock pickers rather than being bogged down with administrative duties.

Everything is important to him

in the running of the business, particularly the detail, such as the art on the walls and making sure the plants are watered.

He sometimes wanders around with the watering can himself if it needs to be done.

Dodd seems comfortable talking about the business in more general terms.

He is also more relaxed than most about discussing the more private aspects of his life, and doesn't bat an eyelid when asked about his family life - he is divorced with three children.

He also admits to currently being a fan of Coldplay's new CD, A rush of blood to the head.

''In 19 years, not one journalist has ever asked me that,'' he says, pleasantly surprised.

Dodd certainly doesn't look like your run-of-the-mill fund manager, with his Elvis-like quiff and rocker sideburns.

He drives a Porsche and loves going on holiday to Harbour Island in the Bahamas.

Neither is Artemis your run-of-the-mill fund management firm, either in its investment performance or ambience.

''We have a very flat structure here, in fact we're all (the fund managers) paid the same salary. It's a young dynamic business. We are taking our time, we are not men in a hurry.

''We are stock-pickers, but we have a chief operating officer and three in compliance now.''

The firm has certainly come a long way since the three friends left Ivory & Sime with a headful of ideas.

Last year Artemis acquired ABN Amro's (pounds) 1.4bn UK unit trust business, which more than doubled funds under management, in a cash-and-shares deal for an undisclosed sum that almost certainly made the three founders multimillionaires.

In return, the Dutch bank received a 58% majority stake in Artemis. Dodd says Artemis has benefited hugely from having access to ABN's massive sales and marketing resource.

However, there are cynics who believe the deal might be the catalyst that will transform the firm into the sort of lumbering, complacent investment house the three founders have striven to avoid.

When he hears that a rival Scottish fund manager is running a book on how long it will take for Artemis's performance to slide following the ABN deal, Dodd flies into a rage: ''Isn't that the most pathetic thing you have ever heard? Why don't they worry about their own performance?''

He is clearly passionate about what he does, although he says he can't remember how he got into fund management (''I just didn't want to be an accountant, doctor

or lawyer''). Nevertheless, he clearly feels fortunate to be in the business.

''Every day I meet interesting people who have great companies with great products. I think that's the best thing, it's a privilege.''

He enthusiastically rushes out of the room to grab his schedule to show the ''interesting people'' with ''great companies'' that he is meeting over the next few weeks.

Rushing out once more, he returns with his colleague Philip Wolstencroft, who manages the European Growth Fund for Artemis.

Wolstencroft gives a glowing tribute to both Dodd and Artemis.

''He's a very good fund manager,'' says Wolstencroft, stating the obvious.

''I'm one of the original investors in the small companies fund and you would struggle to find the sort of stability of outperformance he has delivered.

''We've all worked at big organisations and I've seen all the crap that comes out of that - it's just not relevant to picking stocks and running a business.''

It is hard for anyone meeting Dodd not to be impressed by his warmth and generosity just don't ask him about his investment process.

FACT FILE

Favourite holiday: Harbour Island, Bahamas.

What music currently listening to: Coldplay, A rush of blood to the head.

Favourite film: ''I love films and have lots of DVDs'' - Ronin and Frida.

Favourite book: The Feathermen, Ranulph Fiennes.

Ambition/Dream: ''I'm living it.''

What did you want to be when you were a kid: A farmer.

What do you drive: Porsche.

What drives you: ''A sense of achievement and getting things done. I don't want to re-invent the wheel, I can't.''