A Brief History from Tweedy website
Tweedy, Browne was founded by Forest Birchard Tweedy in 1920 as Tweedy & Co., a dealer in closely held and inactively traded securities. The firm’s 89-year history is grounded in undervalued securities, first as a market maker, then as an investor and investment advisor. Our investment approach derives from the work of the late Benjamin Graham who co-authored the first textbook on investment research, Security Analysis (1934) and authored The Intelligent Investor (1949). Graham, through his investment firm Graham-Newman Corp., was one of Tweedy’s primary brokerage clients in the 1930’s, 1940’s and 1950’s. It was through Graham that the original partners of Tweedy developed brokerage relationships with investment legends such as Walter Schloss and Warren Buffett, and met Tom Knapp who was to come to the firm in 1957 from Graham-Newman and lead its conversion from broker to investor.
In 1959, the partners of then Tweedy, Browne & Knapp pooled their capital in a partnership investment vehicle. In 1968, the firm accepted its first outside money management clients as limited partners of this vehicle. In 1975, Tweedy, Browne registered as an investment advisor and began managing separate accounts for individuals and institutions. As of September 30, 2009, the firm managed in excess of $9.7 billion for individuals, institutions, partnerships, off-shore funds and three mutual funds of a registered investment company, the Tweedy, Browne Global Value Fund, the Tweedy, Browne Value Fund, and the Tweedy, Browne Worldwide High Dividend Yield Value Fund. A more complete account of the firm's colorful history is contained in the
March 31, 1995 Annual Report to shareholders beginning on page 7. We think you will enjoy reading it.
In 2006, Tweedy, Browne began to broadly offer its clients a value strategy that seeks long-term growth of capital by investing in companies around the globe that the adviser believes to have above-average dividend yields, an established history of paying dividends and reasonable valuations. The firm has managed some accounts in this strategy since 1979 and began to offer it more broadly beginning in 2006. In September 2007, the firm launched the Tweedy, Browne Worldwide High Dividend Yield Value Fund, which can accommodate investors of all sizes. Learn more about this fund
here.
Experienced Management
Tweedy, Browne is owned by its four Managing Directors, William H. Browne, Thomas H. Shrager, John D. Spears and Robert Q. Wyckoff, Jr.; former Managing Director and now Senior Adviser, Christopher H. Browne; a limited liability company established for the benefit of certain employees of Tweedy, Browne; and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. ("AMG"), which owns a majority interest in Tweedy, Browne. In its entire history, Tweedy, Browne has had only eleven principals, four of whom are currently active. The operations of Tweedy, Browne are managed by its Management Committee consisting of the firm's four Managing Directors who have been with the firm for tenures ranging from 18 to 35 years. Will Browne and John Spears have worked together and have served as principals of the firm for over 30 years. No Managing Director or former general partner has ever left Tweedy, Browne to join another investment firm.
Focus and Commitment
We do not attempt to be all things to all people, but instead pursue a value-oriented approach to investment management first pioneered by Benjamin Graham. We invest in undervalued common stocks in the United States and outside the United States. Tweedy, Browne first began investing outside the U.S. in 1983 by applying the same principles of value investing that we had successfully applied for the management of U.S. securities. The Managing Directors of Tweedy, Browne have always invested right alongside the firm's clients. As of September 30, 2009, the current Managing Directors and retired principals and their families, as well as employees of Tweedy, Browne had more than $651.3 million in portfolios combined with or similar to client portfolios, including approximately $86.9 million in the Global Fund and $49.5 million in the Value Fund and $6.1 million in the Worldwide High Dividend Yield Value Fund. We have always owned what our clients own.
