Profiles in Leadership - UW-Milwaukee
Profiles in Leadership - UW-Milwaukee
Profiles in Leadership - UW-Milwaukee
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
M&I Marshall & Ilsley Center for Bus<strong>in</strong>ess Ethics<br />
Great Journeys An Inspirational Series<br />
Ab Nicholas Tell Students:<br />
Your Real Goal Should Be To Do What You Love<br />
Ab Nicholas<br />
One of the founders of <strong>Milwaukee</strong>’s<br />
mutual fund community —<br />
Albert “Ab” Nicholas — told<br />
Lubar School students that they aren’t<br />
much different than he was <strong>in</strong> college.<br />
“At your age, you’re wonder<strong>in</strong>g what you’re<br />
go<strong>in</strong>g to do,” he said. “I was the same way.”<br />
Nicholas, Chairman and CEO of Nicholas<br />
Company, shared the story of his career<br />
with bus<strong>in</strong>ess students <strong>in</strong> Great Journeys:<br />
An Inspirational Series this fall. The series,<br />
sponsored by the School’s M&I Marshall<br />
& Ilsley Center for Bus<strong>in</strong>ess Ethics, helps<br />
shape students’ understand<strong>in</strong>g of ethics,<br />
<strong>in</strong>tegrity, and leadership by featur<strong>in</strong>g<br />
exceptional “role model” bus<strong>in</strong>ess leaders.<br />
12 OUTLOOK<br />
Ab Nicholas fully <strong>in</strong>tended to become a<br />
lawyer after earn<strong>in</strong>g his undergraduate<br />
degree <strong>in</strong> bus<strong>in</strong>ess and serv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the<br />
Korean War, but a semester <strong>in</strong> law school<br />
conv<strong>in</strong>ced him otherwise. He decided to<br />
return to <strong>UW</strong>-Madison for his MBA and<br />
to pursue the fi eld of <strong>in</strong>vestments,<br />
sparked by the enthusiasm of a fi nance<br />
professor he had as an undergraduate.<br />
His talents caught the attention of some<br />
solid <strong>Milwaukee</strong> fi rms, and he embarked<br />
on his career — fi rst at Northwestern<br />
National Insurance Company and later with<br />
Marshall and Ilsley Bank. But after ten<br />
years work<strong>in</strong>g for others, he decided that<br />
he wanted to go <strong>in</strong>to bus<strong>in</strong>ess on his own.<br />
“Why? Well, fi rst of all, I don’t work well<br />
for others — just ask my wife,” he said<br />
half-jok<strong>in</strong>gly. “But I also craved the<br />
challenge of it.”<br />
Dur<strong>in</strong>g those years of work<strong>in</strong>g for others,<br />
Nicholas had <strong>in</strong>vested some money and<br />
made a tidy nest egg for himself. “I decided<br />
that I wanted to do for others what I had<br />
done for myself.” Nicholas Company was<br />
born <strong>in</strong> 1967.<br />
Today, the fi rm has earned respect and<br />
trust <strong>in</strong> the mutual fund arena on a<br />
national level. With seven no-load mutual<br />
funds, as well as separate private accounts<br />
managed for <strong>in</strong>dividual and <strong>in</strong>stitutional<br />
<strong>in</strong>vestors, the fi rm concentrates on<br />
<strong>in</strong>de pendent, primary research and<br />
performance, offer<strong>in</strong>g low cost and low<br />
m<strong>in</strong>imum <strong>in</strong>vestments to its clients. It<br />
boasts $3.5 billion <strong>in</strong> assets under management.<br />
The company’s fl agship fund, the<br />
Nicholas Fund, has been on Forbes’<br />
Honor Roll for nearly two of the last<br />
three decades.<br />
How does he expla<strong>in</strong> his success? “First,<br />
you have to have a philosophy and you<br />
have to stick to it — consistently and over<br />
a long period of time.”<br />
“I am also a strong believer <strong>in</strong> contrary<br />
op<strong>in</strong>ion — look<strong>in</strong>g for opportunities<br />
away from the crowd,” Nicholas noted.<br />
“This is an art, not a science.”<br />
“It was never a goal for me to become<br />
rich. That was secondary,” he said. “To do<br />
what you want to do and what you love to<br />
do — that should be your real goal. You<br />
have great, long futures ahead of you.”