Tweedy, Browne to Reopen One Fund, Keep Another Closed

Tweedy, Browne Company, the Benjamin Graham disciples shop that manages nearly $15 billion for institutions and individuals, announced that it will reopen the Tweedy, Browne Value Fund (TWEBX) on May 15 to new investors. Will Browne cited the reduction in the $533 million Value Fund’s cash position over the past two years, and a mandate change that, among other revisions, allows the managers to invest more than 20% of its assets outside the U.S. as justifications for the reopening. However, the $8.6 billion Tweedy, Browne Global Value Fund (TBGVX) will remain closed to new investors for the time being, the company said, due to concern over a potential buildup of the fund’s cash holdings. Browne noted that with the size of the assets in the fund, “it will require an investment of approximately $261 million to reduce the Fund’s cash position by 3%. Clearly the size of these dollar amounts has an influence on our decision to remain closed for the time being in an environment that is still not awash with cheap stocks.”