The firm retains its Below Average Parent rating.
The firm has taken some steps to shore up support as its founder, co-CEO, and value-investment guru Mario Gabelli extends his career to roughly 50 years. Although Gabelli has no immediate plans to retire, the firm appointed Doug Jamieson—who joined the firm more than 40 years ago—to the office of the CEO alongside Gabelli in August 2022 to assist with operational duties. Meanwhile, co-CIOs Kevin Dreyer and Chris Marangi have been more involved on the investment side.
Nonetheless, Gabelli is omnipresent at the firm he built to over USD 30 billion in assets under management over the past half-century. Despite more than 50 investment professionals, Gabelli is named a portfolio manager on 19 of the firm's 45 funds, five of those in solo capacity. Even on the team-managed funds, which tend to give multiple managers a portion of assets to run independently, Gabelli still controls a significant sleeve. At the end of 2023, Gabelli owned more than 90% of the public firm's voting rights, which increases uncertainty around leadership for future generations.
The firm's fees also continue to run high despite widespread industry pressure to lower fund costs.