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Biography

Considered the "Dean of Institutional Investors", Cabot was born in 1898, and served in the American army during World War One. On return from active duty, he spent six months in London working for the First National Bank of Boston, where he studied British investment trusts. A friend, the grandson of J.P. Morgan, had introduced him to Morgan's business associate, Robert Fleming, who was living in London at the time, and Fleming became Cabot's informal tutor.

He returned to Boston, and in 1924 he formed one of the first mutual investment companies , State Street Investment Corporation, which returned 434 per cent from 1925 to 1929. As scandals surfaced after the market crash, Cabot's reputation was made. He became known as a brilliant investor, a prescient critic of financial abuse, and a man of integrity.

For the next 65 years, Cabot used his position for both personal gain and the public good. His investment firm thrived. Even as others copied his methods, the performance and prestige that came from being the first to do primary research gave State Street an advantage in recruiting employees and clients that lasted into the 1980s.