Mario Not Looking So Super These Days
Mario Gabelli, the famous, and now verging on infamous, investor, has seen better days. The stock of his publicly traded mutual fund company, GAMco, has fallen 27% since January as he has had to juggle civil lawsuits from his original financial backers and the federal government, the former over claims that he screwed out of $100 million and the latter over charges that he manipulated FCC auctions for his personal financial gain. But no matter: “Look, lawsuits come and go,” he told Fortune Magazine. “What I care about is making money for my investors.” Whoops. Turns out his flagship fund has only returned about 7% a year over the last five years, lagging roughly two-thirds of its peers.
Mario Gabelli’s Broken Legacy [Fortune]
Double Digit Bonuses at Vanguard Disappoint
Despite priding itself on having the lowest fees around, index fund-giant Vanguard group manages to made enough money last year to bump up the bonuses it handed out to employees by 13%, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Not surprisingly, assets under management grew at about the same rate at Vanguard to $795.3 billion, putting it at number three behind Fidelity and Capital Group Cos. though solid, bonus increases over the past three years have failed to keep pace with the firm’s targets set back in 2002. Industry analysts blame the slower growth on the rising costs associated with being a “financial supermarket.”
Vanguard Raises Bonuses 13% [Philly.com]
You Can Stop Holding Your Breath Now
Yesterday, New York Times’ Deal Book blog got the scoop on the name veteran banker Joseph Peralla’s new firm: Perella Weinberg. Yawn.
Finally, Perella’s Firm Name Revealed [Deal Book]
Hamptons 500: Puking in the Hedgerow
"Who wouldn’t want to have an impact in a community like this,” leads off the current cover story in Hampton Style magazine. Well, us for one. Nouveau riche social climbing isn’t exactly our idea of a good time. Not unsurprisingly, Wall Street is heavily represented in the nauseating exercise, with Henry Kravis and Bruce Wasserstein sharing column inches with the likes of Stan Druckenmiller, Herb Allen and Leon Black. We suspect Third Point’s Daniel Loeb is hanging his head in shame somewhere over the fact that he was dropped from the list in ‘06. Maybe his wife didn’t get enough plastic surgery this year?
Wall Street at the Hamptons [Deal Book]
People Who Most Impact the Hamptons [Hampton Style]
UBS Gives Top Prop Trader A Nice Farewell
When you’ve made $2.4 billion for your employer, he pretty much has to let you do what you want. And what UBS star prop trader Jon Wood wants is his own fund. Slated for a September 1 launch, the activist fund will be headquartered for regulatory purposes in Monaco, a first for the country. And don’t worry about Mr. Wood being able to pay his overhead in the beginning: He’s already got $3 billion of capital ($500 million from UBS) locked in for three years. At 1.5 percent, the management fees alone will go a long way. He’s not skimping on the performance fee either. It’s gonna be 25%.
UBS Star Trader Goes Solo [The Independent]
