Mario Gabelli and the Importance of Understanding the World
Mario J. Gabelli is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GAMCO Investors, Inc., the firm he founded in 1977. A 1965 summa cum laude graduate of Fordham University's College of Business Administration, he also holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and honorary doctorates from Fordham University and Roger Williams University.
Mr. Gabelli serves on the Boards of Boston College, Roger Williams University, Columbia University Graduate School of Business, the American-Italian Cancer Foundation, the Foundation for Italian Art & Culture and is a Trustee of the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States and of the E.L. Wiegand Foundation. He was Morningstar's Portfolio Manager of the Year in 1997. He was named Money Manager of the Year by Institutional Investor for 2011 and is a member of Barron's All Star Century Team.
On November 26th, 2019, the Founder and CEO of Gabelli Asset Management Company Investors, Mario Gabelli delivered a highly engaging keynote speech to a group of more than 130 student leaders at Business Today’s 45th International Conference. Mr. Gabelli’s swift and pragmatic pacing as well as cleverly satirical remarks made his presentation highly innovative. He spoke on a range of topics from the vastness of the US equity market, with a capitalization of $31.7 trillion, to the niche yet expanding pet industry, demonstrating his breath and uniqueness of his insights.
Mr. Gabelli surprised everyone when he metaphorically labeled himself as an “endangered species”, and symbolically projected the image of a hanging skeleton on his slide presentation. Given Mr. Gabelli’s successful career, which has been supported by his deeply informed view of the world, what could possibly threaten such an admirable business leader? It was then revealed to be Artificial Intelligence. The trend of Electronically Traded Funds or ETFs has sufficiently demonstrated technology’s capability in revolutionizing how financial operations are carried out. Despite the increased involvement of technology, Mr. Gabelli’s remains steadfast in his beliefs on the inherent value of what he humbly labels as “plain old stock picking”.
In the keynote speech, Mr. Gabelli physically demonstrated the importance of reading as part of his life habits; he retrieved volumes and volumes of finance and economic magazines from his bulging leather briefcase and hastily flung them onto the stage floor. While this performance drew many laughters from the audience, Mr. Gabelli’s deeper intent was to encourage everyone to develop an awareness as our world evolves every second. Indeed, the importance of gathering new information has always been a guiding principle in Mr. Gabelli’s career. Ever since he founded GAMCO Investors in 1976 as a financial service company, the core of the organization's success has been to foster this distinctive “research-driven culture”.
Indeed, the pursuit of knowledge and global awareness was a recurring theme in Mr. Gabelli’s presentation. The audience received an unexpected crash course on geography as Mr. Gabelli played Yakko’s World, a 1993 production from the Animaniacs where Yakko sings the names of all existing countries. Yet, of the numerous countries around the world, Mr. Gabelli appears to hold a special interest in China. According to Mr. Gabelli, “40% of the Chinese economy is consumer based” and believes that increasing the country’s population can be greatly beneficial.
Mr. Gabelli’s unconventional style is not only defined by the flinging magazines and classic cartoon songs, but his ingenuity for stringing ideas together through his unique acronyms in replacement of well-established ones. Inspired by the idea of investing through ESG factors, Mr. Gabelli created what he labels a “PP Test”. This test considers a plethora of important indexes such as planet, people, and power (green) as well as more ambiguous ones such as pet parents.
The humor in Mr. Gabelli’s speech does not distract from understanding some of his key advice. Addressing a group of distinguished young leaders, he affirms that “you are the elite in the world and you have got to share it.” Truly, Mr. Gabelli holds great confidence in the future. He encourages everyone to “just start your own business.”