Hurdles Loom for Gabelli Asset Management

As it searches for other growth engines, Gabelli sits on $13 per share of cash. Mayer doesn't mind the cash cushion, which she says can be used either for defensive or acquisitive purposes. But like other analysts, she remains "unclear when the company will use the cash, or how."

Last month, Gabelli offered analysts and investors a bit of clarity by giving some of that cash back in its first-ever dividend, a paltry but perhaps well-meaning 2 cents per share. It also successfully introduced a $1.5 billion closed-end fund in late November, the Gabelli Dividend and Income Trust (GDV Quote).

It would be safe to assume that investors buying Gabelli shares trust Mario Gabelli to invest that cash wisely. Like Warren Buffett, Mario Gabelli has legions of value-investing fans who trust him implicitly and don't mind paying the goodwill costs associated with having his name on the building, or, as Lipper's Tjornehoj calls it, the "Martha Stewart risk" from mixing his name with his NYSE ticker symbol.

"If he's turning in the performance that people associate with his name, the shareholders won't scream for their money back," says Tjornehoj.