Tom Gayner, Quote of the Day: 'You Might as Well Assume the World Is Going to Work'
Key Takeaways
- •Economic Times Markets selected Tom Gayner, chief executive of Markel Group, for its 'Quote of the day' feature dated 21 August 2026 in the Wall Street Guide section of its US stocks coverage.
- •Gayner joined Markel in 1990 to manage its equity portfolio and took over as chief executive officer in 2016.
- •Markel Group, a Richmond, Virginia-based diversified holding company trading on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker MKL, is often compared to Berkshire Hathaway for combining specialty insurance underwriting with patient, long-term ownership of quality businesses.
- •The company adopted the Markel Group name in 2023, formalizing a structure that pairs its insurance operations and equity portfolio with Markel Ventures, a family of non-insurance businesses spanning construction services, building products, industrial equipment, consumer products, and professional services.
- •Gayner's investment approach rests on four screens: profitable businesses earning high returns on capital, honest and talented management, ample opportunities to reinvest earnings, and a reasonable purchase price.
Quote of the Day — Tom Gayner
"I’ve always said you might as well assume the world is going to work, because if it doesn’t, it doesn’t really matter what your investment portfolio looks like"
— Tom Gayner
Economic Times Markets, in the Wall Street Guide section of its US stocks coverage, has selected veteran American investor Tom Gayner for its “Quote of the day” feature dated 21 August 2026.
Gayner’s investment philosophy encourages investors to remain constructive about the long term. Despite volatility, geopolitical risks and economic uncertainty, he believes wealth creation depends on businesses, economies and institutions continuing to function, adapt, innovate and generate value over time. The remark reflects the temperament behind the four screens Gayner has repeatedly laid out in his writing: profitable businesses that earn high returns on capital, honest and talented management, ample opportunities to reinvest earnings, and a reasonable purchase price. Applying those filters across full market cycles presupposes exactly the kind of long-horizon confidence the quote expresses.
The observation is consistent with the perspective Gayner has long expressed in Markel’s shareholder letters and public commentary, the annual letters being the venue where he most fully develops these themes. Gayner is chief executive officer of Markel Group, the Richmond, Virginia-based diversified holding company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker MKL. He joined the firm in 1990 to manage its equity portfolio and later took over as CEO in 2016. Under his long stewardship of the investment function, Markel has frequently drawn comparisons to Berkshire Hathaway for combining specialty insurance underwriting with patient, long-horizon ownership of quality businesses. The company adopted the Markel Group name in 2023, a change that formalized a structure pairing its insurance operations and equity portfolio with Markel Ventures, a family of non-insurance businesses spanning areas such as construction services, building products, industrial equipment, consumer products and a range of professional services.
The quote feature was published alongside the Economic Times’ US markets tracker, with data timestamped as of 21 Aug 2026, 01:30 AM IST, including S&P 500 top gainers and top losers.
Source: Economic Times Markets
