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Tweedy, Browne Insider + Value ETF in registration
There must be something about the combination of the names Tweedy and Brown that convinces some people to pay through the nose to own one of their funds.
That change amounts to "old wine, new bottles". Small shops are facing of flat or declining asset are ding the same in order to survive.
We used to invested with Tweedy Browne 30 years ago and learned there are better choices out there. High fees and continuing poor performance are the main reasons.
”pursues its investment objective by investing under normal circumstances at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of U.S. and non-U.S. companies that Tweedy, Browne Company … believes are undervalued, and where either the company’s “insiders” have been actively purchasing the company’s equity securities and/or the company is conducting “opportunistic share buybacks.” … the Adviser considers a company’s “insiders” to be corporate officers, such as the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, and/or directors, or controlling shareholders, who would typically own 10% or more of the company's outstanding shares … “
Amazing the different “strategies” they can come up with.
@hank, @Sven -- my wife is a former long-time TWEBX investor. The fund used to have good downside protection, in spite of the fee. That advantage has evaporated. Tweedy now joins hte legions of fund companies of all stripes rushing to either kick out ETF products, or convert traditional open-end funds to ETFs (for example, JPM, Oakmark, First Eagle, FPA, RiverNorth...you know Royce, who is king of the old win/new bottles and copycat paradigms will be in the mix soon).
I still find the change pretty dramatic and alarming. Once we're all forced into online brokers, I'll miss being able to reinvest and purchase fractional shares.
@ Shostakovich, Tweedy Browne is trying to survive the competition while maintaining its AUM. I firmly believe you can find other international value OEFs or ETFs. Online brokerages such as Schwab, Fidelity and Vanguard offer many choices equivalent or better than Tweedy Browne.
I got a lot out of reading their massive reports years ago. However, when they sold the firm to that "fund" manger ( I forgot the name) and justified it for "estate planning purposes ( even though two of them were bachelors) I lost all interest.
Investment advisory fee: 1.25% Other Expenses: 0.17%* Total Fund Operating Expenses: 1.42%*
Without the voluntary fee waiver of the administrator, Other Expenses would have been 0.18% for the Global Fund. Absent the voluntary fee waivers, Total Fund Operating Expenses would have been 1.43% ... for the Global Fund....
On the surface at least (and disregarding the 1 basis point fee waiver) it looks like AMG improved operating efficiency, resulting in a lower ER. Management fees were unchanged.
IMHO estate planning is more difficult without a spouse. One cannot defer estate taxes by leaving assets to a spouse; one cannot utilize common planning techniques such as a bypass ("AB") trust, etc. Bachelors are "stuck" leaving all of their assets to non-spouses (children, siblings, other family, friends, etc.), with all the commensurate tax planning headaches that involves.
If I remember correctly the joke on the internet was he was leaving his estate to his cat
That's interesting if true. While states generally don't allow assets to be bequeathed to pets, there is a whole body of law, varying state by state, that enables testators to provide for their pets upon their death. It's anything but simple.
This is actually relevant to investors generally. One of the issues mentioned is how to provide for the pet between time of the master's death and the time that the will is probated.
Too often this period is not considered. Although a Will can make provisions for the care of the pet, no action can be taken by the Executor to carry out these provisions until the Will has been admitted to probate and the Executor has received the authority to proceed by the issuance of letters testamentary The time between death and the authority of the Executor to act can vary between several weeks and several months. Plans must be made to ensure care for the pet during this interim period.
Likewise, investors should make plans for any assets that pass through a will. Of course things like "transfer on death", joint tenants with right of survivorship, IRA beneficiaries and the like help reduce the size of assets that the will deals with.
Until an executor/administrator is authorized, those assets are effectively on autopilot. A well balanced portfolio should be able to survive several weeks if not months with no intervention. A 50% gold allocation would not. It is more prudent to invest with one's demise in mind than to invest with concerns of Armageddon on the horizon.
Comments
We used to invested with Tweedy Browne 30 years ago and learned there are better choices out there. High fees and continuing poor performance are the main reasons.
Amazing the different “strategies” they can come up with.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1618627/000139834425011733/fp0093910-1_485apos.htm
I still find the change pretty dramatic and alarming. Once we're all forced into online brokers, I'll miss being able to reinvest and purchase fractional shares.
Some of the other principals may have sold off their shares at some later times, but TB was effectively sold in 1997.
I never invested in TBGVX in part because it was always expensive, both before and after 1997.
July 1996 prospectus: July 1998 Prospectus: On the surface at least (and disregarding the 1 basis point fee waiver) it looks like AMG improved operating efficiency, resulting in a lower ER. Management fees were unchanged.
IMHO estate planning is more difficult without a spouse. One cannot defer estate taxes by leaving assets to a spouse; one cannot utilize common planning techniques such as a bypass ("AB") trust, etc. Bachelors are "stuck" leaving all of their assets to non-spouses (children, siblings, other family, friends, etc.), with all the commensurate tax planning headaches that involves.
If I remember correctly the joke on the internet was he was leaving his estate to his cat
From the NYC Bar Association: https://www.nycbar.org/providing-for-your-pets-in-the-event-of-your-death-or-hospitalization/
This is actually relevant to investors generally. One of the issues mentioned is how to provide for the pet between time of the master's death and the time that the will is probated. Likewise, investors should make plans for any assets that pass through a will. Of course things like "transfer on death", joint tenants with right of survivorship, IRA beneficiaries and the like help reduce the size of assets that the will deals with.
Until an executor/administrator is authorized, those assets are effectively on autopilot. A well balanced portfolio should be able to survive several weeks if not months with no intervention. A 50% gold allocation would not. It is more prudent to invest with one's demise in mind than to invest with concerns of Armageddon on the horizon.