The firm’s 100-year history is grounded in undervalued securities, first as a market maker, then as an investor and investment advisor. The firm’s investment approach derives from the work of the late Benjamin Graham, co-author of the first textbook on investment research Security Analysis (1934) and author of The Intelligent Investor (1949). Graham, through his investment firm Graham-Newman Corp., was one of the firm’s primary brokerage clients in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. It was through Graham that the original partners of the firm developed brokerage relationships with investment legends Walter Schloss and Warren Buffett, and met Tom Knapp, who joined the firm in 1957 from Graham-Newman and led 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 December 31, 2019, the firm managed approximately $14.8 billion for individuals, institutions, partnerships, off-shore funds and four mutual funds of a registered investment company, the Tweedy, Browne International Value Fund, the Tweedy, Browne International Value Fund II — Currency Unhedged, 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.

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.

Tweedy, Browne’s operations are managed by its Management Committee, which consists of Jay Hill, Thomas H. Shrager, John D. Spears, Robert Q. Wyckoff, Jr., Roger de Bree, and Jason Minard, who have been with the firm for tenures ranging from 18 to 47 years. The Management Committee is responsible for all business decisions made by the firm. No principal has ever left Tweedy, Browne to join another investment firm.

Tweedy, Browne invests 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 December 31, 2020, the current Managing Directors and retired principals and their families, as well as employees of Tweedy, Browne had more than $1.3 billion in portfolios combined with or similar to client portfolios, including approximately $141.7 million in the International Value Fund, $82.0 million in the Value Fund, $7.2 million in the Worldwide High Dividend Yield Value Fund, and $6.9 million in the International Value Fund II — Currency Unhedged. We have always owned what our clients own.