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Gus Scacco '84
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Gus Scacco '84
Managing Director, Forstmann Leff
Reading the Signs- on the Field and on Wall Street
Favorite Professor:
Sal Primeggia, "When you left his class, you saw things in a different light."
First job after college:
Spring training with the Cincinnati Reds, then working on the American Stock Exchange
You might have seen him:
on Bloomberg Television, as a guest market analyst
The only pitches Gus Scacco has called recently are for his son's Little League baseball team, but the former Panther catcher applies the lessons he learned from the diamond on Wall Street daily.
Once recruited by the Cincinnati Reds, Mr. Scacco credits years of competitive experience as a major factor in his ability to handle pressure situations. As a managing director and portfolio manager for All-Cap Growth investment for Forstmann Leff, pressure situations are hardly uncommon.
Mr. Scacco joined Forstmann Leff, a leading private investment firm with clients including corporate and public pension plans, endowments, foundations, and private investors, in 2004. The firm's managed assets total over $2 billion. The view from his office includes much of midtown Manhattan and the southern end of Central Park. It's a fittingly broad view for a portfolio manager responsible for an overview of the entire market.
Mr. Scacco joined Forstmann Leff after six years in Morgan Stanley's Asset Management Division. It was here that he began "running money" and overseeing an investment portfolio.
Prior to Morgan Stanley, Mr. Scacco was a small cap equity research analyst with J. & W. Seligman. He visited and evaluated hundreds of small and emerging companies in his six year tenure. Many of the companies he used to cover have since grown to national prominence including: Abercrombie & Fitch; Bed, Bath & Beyond; Starbucks; Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia; and Wynn Resorts.
Mr. Scacco received his M.B.A. from Hofstra University, and later participated in the prestigious 18-month credit training program at Chemical Bank. The only non-Ivy-League graduate in the program, Mr. Scacco "gained firsthand insight into the banking field."
Mr. Scacco came to Adelphi as a baseball recruit. He chose Adelphi over several other regional colleges for its smaller classes and personal environment. He also enjoyed the combination of business and liberal arts education, with the added benefit of outstanding connections to the leading accounting firms in New York City.
Mr. Scacco was voted captain of the baseball team in his junior and senior years, and credits baseball with teaching him a sense of responsibility for his teammates and later in life his co-workers. His favorite memory of the team is playing against Le Moyne University in the Eastern Championships during his freshman year. The opposing team included three future Major-League pitchers.
Mr. Scacco lives in Glen Head, New York with his wife Lina, and their two children, Peter and Jacqueline. Still drawn to the competition of athletics, Mr. Scacco coaches their basketball teams, and Peter’s baseball team. He has been involved with the Ronald McDonald House of the Long Island Jewish Health Care Center, and the Saltzman Community Service Center at Hofstra University.
His advice to students is to remember that "even if you know what you want to do, it won't always be a straight line to get there. The most important element in crafting a career is what you learn and take away from every job along the way."
Contact
For additional information about alumni benefits and services, please contact:
The Office of Alumni Relations
Adelphi University
Levermore Hall, Room 205
1 South Avenue
P.O. BOX 701
Garden City, NY 11530-0701
p - 516.877.3470
f - 516.877.6890
e - alumni@adelphi.edu
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