Mario Gabelli Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks

7. The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE:BK)

GAMCO Investors’ Stake: $141 Million    

Mario Gabelli has been a long-term admirer of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE:BK) stock. His fund first disclosed a stake in the company back in the third quarter of 2012. This position comprised over 6 million shares but was sold off within months. A new position was opened in the fourth quarter of 2013. This holding comprised 6.2 million shares. The fund started increasing this stake and grew it to nearly 6.7 million shares by the second quarter of 2015. Since then, however, Gabelli has been steadily trimming this holding. Filings for the fourth quarter of 2025 show that the fund owned 1.2 million shares in the firm, down 7% compared to filings for the previous quarter.

Hedge funds treat The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE:BK) as a defensive toll booth for global finance. It oversees roughly $50 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration. Unlike retail banks that rely on risky lending, BNY Mellon earns fee-based income for keeping assets safe. This revenue is highly recurring and difficult for competitors to displace. The complexity of the services BNY provides – clearing, settlement, and data analytics – creates a massive barrier to entry. While BNY is fee-heavy, it still benefits significantly from the higher-for-longer interest rate environment seen in early 2026. The bank earns interest on the massive cash balances held by its institutional clients. Even small increases in rates translate to hundreds of millions in pure profit for the firm.