EXCLUSIVE: Ross Gerber Sees 'Tsunami Of Money' Pouring Into Cannabis Companies Upon Federal Legalization, Says Cannabis Is One Of 'Biggest' Opportunities Beyond AI

Ross Gerber, co-founder, president and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, sees “massive” investing opportunity in the cannabis space.

Supporting Cannabis: Tuesday at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago, Gerber gave passionate support for cannabis and provided his outlook for the industry.

Gerber is one of the few advocates for cannabis in the institutional investing world and likely one of the only investment advisors that recommends cannabis to clients.

AdvisorShares Gerber Kawasaki ETF GK is the only exchange-traded fund in the world that gives investors exposure to both cannabis companies and Bitcoin BTC/USD in the same place, the fund manager said.

He’s been a longtime supporter of cannabis legalization, dating back to his college days at the University of Pennsylvania, where he led the largest cannabis rally in the history of the school. That’s what inspired him to support federal cannabis legalization throughout his life, he said.

Gerber told the packed crowd at the Marriott Magnificent Mile that the prohibition of cannabis was included in the Jim Crow laws introduced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to stop people from voting and throw people in jail for whatever reason they wanted.

“Cannabis is the last of these laws and it must be repealed,” Gerber said. “It’s embarrassing!”

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Betting On Cannabis Legalization: The advancement of cannabis is currently in what Gerber calls “stage two.” In the first stage, former illegal sellers of cannabis became legal but ran into problems running the businesses. Now incredible operators are coming into the space, he said.

“These are the best companies that I have ever seen operated because they can exist with literally everything rigged against them. And the best part is that when these laws change, these companies will be wildly profitable,” Gerber said.

“And that’s why I’m here. Because I think cannabis is one of the biggest opportunities for investors that exists today outside of things like AI.”

Many cannabis companies are using new technologies in the growth process, the fund manager said, adding that he recently went and saw some of the technology first-hand. He noted that he can’t help but laugh to himself when he looks at the quality of management and product at these companies and then looks at the valuations.

The total market cap of all of the public cannabis companies that trade in Canada combined is somewhere between $10 billion and $15 billion. Gerber said he believes there is a $200 billion to $300 billion growth opportunity in cannabis over the next decade.

Rescheduling alone probably “doubles the value” of all cannabis companies because of the way it changes tax laws, he said. SAFE Banking is more of a “half measure” and should be pushed toward full legalization, he added.

If we get rescheduling followed by full legalization, all cannabis companies are going to be worth approximately three times as much as they are today, Gerber said.

“I can’t tell you the tsunami of money that would go into this industry if it was legalized because young people today want to invest in cannabis companies,” Gerber said.

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Photo by Wendy Davis.