Tweedy, Browne is an investment partnership owned by its five Managing Directors, Christopher H. Browne, William H. Browne, John D. Spears, Thomas H. Shrager, and Robert Q. Wyckoff, Jr. The operations of Tweedy, Browne are managed by its Management Committee consisting of Christopher H. Browne, William H. Browne and John D. Spears. This investment partnership has been recognized by Warren Buffett as Graham-Doddsville Superinvestors. The Firm has been in the investment business for close to 90 years. Benjamin Graham, through his investment in Graham-Newman Corp., was one of Tweedy’s brokerage clients in the 1930s and 1940s.
Investing Philosophy:
The Tweedy Browne investment approach derives from the work of Benjamin Graham. Their research seeks to appraise the worth of a company, what Graham called "intrinsic value," by determining its acquisition value, or by estimating the collateral value of its assets and/or cash flow. Investments are made at a significant discount to intrinsic value, normally 40% to 50%, which Graham called an investor's "margin of safety." Investments are sold as the market price approaches intrinsic value, with the proceeds reinvested in other situations offering a greater discount to intrinsic value.
The folks at The Tweedy, Browne Fund Inc . are celebrating a rewarding 2009. All four of their mutual funds had a strong finish to calendar year 2009 on both a relative and absolute basis, besting all of their respective benchmarks in the 4th Quarter by a significant margin. The Global Value Fund’s 2009 return of 37.85% was its best yearly result in its 17-year history eclipsing its previous best return in 1999 by over 1200 basis points. The Value Fund and the Worldwide High Dividend Yield Value Fund were no slouches either, producing 2009 returns of 27.60% and 28.18%, respectively. The brand new, unhedged version of the Global Value Fund, the Tweedy, Browne Global Value Fund II-Currency Unhedged, although still in its construction phase, also got off to a terrific start, besting the unhedged benchmark for the quarter. More...
With global equity markets up approximately 73%(MSCI World Index) from the market bottom in early March of last year, stocks today in general appear to be fairly to fully valued. That said, from our perspective, it is more a market of stocks and not so much a stock market with some stocks more attractively priced than others. As with previous stock market collapses, the bounce off the bottom was led by lower quality stocks, those that suffered the worst declines during the downturn. While most stocks were up nicely for the year, steadier, higher quality businesses, particularly those that pay a dividend, significantly underperformed lower quality non-dividend paying issues, and today we believe offer investors much better value. For example, in 2009 the 370 stocks in the S&P 500 that paid some kind of a dividend were up 27.7% on average versus a return of 82.4% for the stocks that did not pay a dividend. The same held true for global equities with the stocks that pay a dividend in the MSCI World Index up 32.3% versus a return of 75% for the stocks in the index that did not pay a dividend. In general, the higher the dividend yield the lower the return in 2009. As we got closer to year-end, More...
I wanted to devote an article to a legendary guru Christopher Browne who recently passed away. Christopher Browne passed away of a heart attack this past Sunday December 13th. Browne joined Tweedy Browne in 1969 and became a director in 1974. He remained at this position until two years ago when he stepped down due to health problems. According to the New York Times Christopher Browne helped Warren Buffett take control of Berkshire Hathaway in the 1960s. More...
(GuruFocus, November 13, 2009) Investment Gurus with money management firm Tweedy, Browne Fund Inc. lamented recently that good bargains are hard to get bye. As of the end of 3Q09, they held about 10% in cash or short term securities. However, during the second quarter, they purchased these stocks primarily: More...
(GuruFocus, November 12, 2009) Investment Gurus at money management firm Tweedy, Browne Fund Inc. pulled off an remarkable quarter again for 3Q09. The flagship fund Tweedy, Browne Global Value Fund returned 15.79% for the quarter, beating the 15.04% return of the benchmark MSCI EAFE Index (Hedged to USD). More...
Portfolio activity was modest during the quarter. While the markets’ advance has been nothing short of breathtaking over the last two quarters, and bargains are harder to come by, the top 25 holdings in all three of our Funds continue to trade on average at forward price/earnings multiples of between approximately 12 and 13 times earnings and have dividend yields of between 3% and 4.5%. More...
(GuruFocus, August 10, 2009) Investment Gurus Tweedy Browne reduced stake in workplace uniforms company UniFirst Coporation. (UNF). GuruFocus Data shows he sold 29.59% of his position in UNF at the price of $38.92 per share and after the transaction, he held 1,145,780 shares. More...
Tweedy Browne was once Ben Graham's primary broker. While trading for Graham, they found that value investing works, and started to practice value investing themselves since 1930s. This team is conversavative, and they had a relative good 2008. They continue to view the current environment as a buying opportunity. This is their Q2 portfolio update. More...
Long term value shop Tweedy, Browne just released their second quarter shareholder letter. Their funds have had nice rebounds. The Global Value Fund gained 10.31% year to date. These are some highlights: More...
Found an article on Tweedy Browne Worldwide High Dividend Yield Value fund by Senior Associate Editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Andrew Tanzer. You are urged to read the original article, Here are some key points: More...
This is the Q1 portfolio update of Tweedy Browne, the long term value shop. Their funds slightly outpermed the market. Tweedy Browne owns 55 stocks with a total value of $1.4 billion. These are the details of the buys and sells. More...
Long term value team Tweedy Browne thinks that an investor’s best pricing opportunities often come at times of maximum stress as volatility translates into opportunity. To them it is certainly this kind of time. Like Warren buffett, they are buying railroads and consumer staples and selling financials. These are the details of buys and sells. More...
In the face of our inability to time markets, it is our judgement that this is a time to be patiently moving available cash reserves into global equity markets. While stocks could go lower from current levels, we believe that if you are careful and deliberate about your entry price, well selected stocks purchased today should provide an acceptable rate of return over the longer term. Warren Buffett, the world’s greatest investor, basically expressed the same sentiment in an Op Ed piece in The New York Times back in early October More...
The net current asset value approach is the oldest approach to investment in groups of securities with common selection characteristics of which we are aware. Benjamin Graham developed and tested this criterion between 1930 and 1932. More...
Tweedy Browne value team think they are seeing businesses with great economic fundamentals being driven down to unreasonable valuations in the stock markets around the world creating opportunities for patient, long-term capital. But it seems that they sold more than they bought during the third quarter, driven by fund redemptions? These are their buys and sells during the third quarter. More...
Given the current turmoil in the financial markets and perhaps the most volatile stock markets we have seen in our 30+ years of investing, we wanted to share with you some facts as well as some of our thoughts. More...
Tweedy Browne shareholder letter: "It should come as no surprise that pricing opportunities are surfacing and the discount between market value and intrinsic value is growing in the bulk of our portfolio. Our portfolio, in our view, has rarely been cheaper than it is today." More...
Tweedy Brown, the conservative value firm, has just released their portoflio for the end of second quarter. They think that pricing opportunities are surfacing and the discount between market value and More...
The silver lining in our current rather grim investment environment is that we believe that we are in the process of being presented with an unusual opportunity to buy truly undervalued businesses on our terms. While broad market indices have declined roughly 15% since the credit bubble burst in August of last year, there has been heightened volatility in certain sectors, industry groups and countries, and some stocks are beginning to offer what appear to be compelling values. More...
Disclaimers: GuruFocus.com
is not operated by a broker, a dealer, or a registered investment adviser.
Under no circumstances does any information posted on GuruFocus.com represent
a recommendation to buy or sell a security. The information on this site,
and in its related newsletters, is not intended to be, nor does it constitute,
investment advice or recommendations. The gurus may buy and sell securities
before and after any particular article and report and information herein
is published, with respect to the securities discussed in any article
and report posted herein. In no event shall GuruFocus.com be liable to
any member, guest or third party for any damages of any kind arising out
of the use of any content or other material published or available on
GuruFocus.com, or relating to the use of, or inability to use, GuruFocus.com
or any content, including, without limitation, any investment losses,
lost profits, lost opportunity, special, incidental, indirect, consequential
or punitive damages. Past performance is a poor indicator of future performance.
The information on this site, and in its related newsletters, is not intended
to be, nor does it constitute, investment advice or recommendations. The
information on this site is in no way guaranteed for completeness, accuracy
or in any other way. The gurus listed in this website are not affiliated
with GuruFocus.com, LLC.
Daily updates provided by QuoteMedia, Inc. (CSI). Fundamental company data provided by Zacks, Inc.
Printer friendly format
