Dodge & Cox

Last updated
Dodge & Cox
Company type Private (Employee-owned)
Industry Investment Management
Founded1930;94 years ago (1930)
Headquarters 555 California Street
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Key people
Dana Emery (Chair and CEO)
Roger Kuo (President)
David Hoeft
(Chief Investment Officer)
AUM
  • US$323 billion (December 31, 2022)
  • US$371 billion (December 31, 2021)
Website dodgeandcox.com
Footnotes /references
[1]

Dodge & Cox is an American mutual fund company, founded in 1930 by Van Duyn Dodge and E. Morris Cox, that provides professional investment management services.

Contents

Background

Dodge & Cox specializes in value investing [2] and often uses contrarian strategies by emphasizing companies which they believe have good long-term prospects but have suffered temporary setbacks. [3] The firm has been described as "best known for its conservatively managed funds with solid track records and modest fees." [4] Having been created during the Great Depression, the firm has "a razor sharp focus on capital preservation". [5] Co-founder E. Morris Cox, who worked at the firm into his 90s, objected to widespread practices he considered unethical during the early 20th Century history of investment banking and thus Dodge & Cox developed policies putting customer interests as a top priority. [6] Dodge & Cox practices a team-based management strategy and as of 2020, the firm had US$325 billion in assets under management, [7] and one of their funds was among the largest 25 American mutual funds. [8]

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company offers six no-load mutual funds as of December 2020: a domestic stock fund, an international stock fund, a balanced fund, an income fund, a global stock fund, and a global bond fund. [9] In August 2020, Dodge & Cox filed a registration statement with the SEC for an emerging markets stock fund. [10] The emerging markets fund opened to the public in May, 2021. Dodge & Cox has never obsoleted a mutual fund.

Their balanced fund, comprising 50-70% large company stocks and the remainder in bonds, [11] was established in 1931 and is one of the oldest US mutual funds still in operation as of February 2019. [12] [13] [14] Unusually for an investment firm, particularly of their size, Dodge & Cox does not advertise, has only one office and "has no public relations office and no sales force." [14] In 2007, Dodge and Cox ranked second after The Vanguard Group for overall customer satisfaction in a survey by Cogent Research of customers with at least $100,000 in mutual fund assets. [15]

Due to their devotion to the principles of value investing, Dodge & Cox avoided the worst of the dot com bubble during the late 1990s and early 2000 by limiting their exposure to overvalued and then-trendy internet stocks, thereby significantly out-performing the broader market when the bubble collapsed. [2] According to a 2017 Morningstar, Inc. analysis, the firm's low staff turnover and investing principles have been largely beneficial over the long-term, though with bouts of sluggishness when growth stocks were more in favor than value stocks. [7] From 2012 to 2016, their US large company fund saw substantial outflows of $10 billion due in part to the increasing popularity of lower fee index funds, but in this same period their other funds saw more contributions than withdrawals. [14]

John C. Bogle of The Vanguard Group was a strong proponent of index funds, but singled out Dodge & Cox among a handful of active mutual fund managers he would recommend due to their low fees, sober management and avoidance of trends. [16] [17]

Related Research Articles

Passive management is an investing strategy that tracks a market-weighted index or portfolio. Passive management is most common on the equity market, where index funds track a stock market index, but it is becoming more common in other investment types, including bonds, commodities and hedge funds.

An index fund is a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed to follow certain preset rules so that it can replicate the performance ("track") of a specified basket of underlying investments. While index providers often emphasize that they are for-profit organizations, index providers have the ability to act as "reluctant regulators" when determining which companies are suitable for an index. Those rules may include tracking prominent indexes like the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average or implementation rules, such as tax-management, tracking error minimization, large block trading or patient/flexible trading strategies that allow for greater tracking error but lower market impact costs. Index funds may also have rules that screen for social and sustainable criteria.

A mutual fund is an investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV in Europe, and the open-ended investment company (OEIC) in the UK.

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a type of investment fund that is also an exchange-traded product, i.e., it is traded on stock exchanges. ETFs own financial assets such as stocks, bonds, currencies, debts, futures contracts, and/or commodities such as gold bars. The list of assets that each ETF owns, as well as their weightings, is posted on the website of the issuer daily, or quarterly in the case of active non-transparent ETFs. Many ETFs provide some level of diversification compared to owning an individual stock.

The Vanguard Group, Inc., is an American registered investment advisor based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, with about $7.7 trillion in global assets under management, as of April 2023. It is the largest provider of mutual funds and the second-largest provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the world after BlackRock's iShares. In addition to mutual funds and ETFs, Vanguard offers brokerage services, educational account services, financial planning, asset management, and trust services. Several mutual funds managed by Vanguard are ranked at the top of the list of US mutual funds by assets under management. Along with BlackRock and State Street, Vanguard is considered to be one of the Big Three index fund managers that play a dominant role in corporate America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Value investing</span> Investment paradigm

Value investing is an investment paradigm that involves buying securities that appear underpriced by some form of fundamental analysis. The various forms of value investing derive from the investment philosophy first taught by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd at Columbia Business School in 1928, and subsequently developed in their 1934 text Security Analysis.

Contrarian investing is an investment strategy that is characterized by purchasing and selling in contrast to the prevailing sentiment of the time.

Market timing is the strategy of making buying or selling decisions of financial assets by attempting to predict future market price movements. The prediction may be based on an outlook of market or economic conditions resulting from technical or fundamental analysis. This is an investment strategy based on the outlook for an aggregate market rather than for a particular financial asset.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John C. Bogle</span> American investor and business magnate (1929–2019)

John Clifton "Jack" Bogle was an American investor, business magnate, and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive of The Vanguard Group and is credited with popularizing the index fund. An avid investor and money manager himself, he preached investment over speculation, long-term patience over short-term action, and reducing broker fees as much as possible. An ideal investment vehicle for Bogle was a low-cost index fund representing the entire US market, held over a lifetime with dividends reinvested.

Active management is an approach to investing. In an actively managed portfolio of investments, the investor selects the investments that make up the portfolio. Active management is often compared to passive management or index investing.

In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, measures the total market value of all the financial assets which an individual or financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institution—or a decentralized network protocol controls, typically on behalf of a client. Funds may be managed for clients, platform users, or solely for themselves, such as in the case of a financial institution which has mutual funds or holds its own venture capital. The definition and formula for calculating AUM may differ from one entity to another.

Tactical asset allocation (TAA) is a dynamic investment strategy that actively adjusts a portfolio's asset allocation. The goal of a TAA strategy is to improve the risk-adjusted returns of passive management investing.

Dimensional Fund Advisors, L.P. is a privately-owned investment firm headquartered in Austin, Texas. Dimensional was founded in Brooklyn in 1981 by David Booth, Rex Sinquefield and Larry Klotz. The company has affiliates within 15 offices in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, and Japan. Dimensional maintains additional U.S. offices in Charlotte, North Carolina and Santa Monica, California and has affiliate offices globally. The company is owned by its employees, board members and outside investors.

Otis "Mason" Hawkins is an American value investor and the founder, chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Southeastern Asset Management, Inc. In 1975, Hawkins founded Southeastern Asset Management, a $35 billion employee-owned, global investment management firm and the investment advisor to the Longleaf Partners Funds, a suite of mutual funds and UCITS funds.

In the investment management industry, a separately managed account (SMA) is any of several different types of investment accounts. For example, an SMA may be an individual managed investment account; these are often offered by a brokerage firm through one of their brokers or financial consultants and managed by independent investment management firms ; they have varying fee structures. These particular types of SMAs may be called "wrap fee" or "dual contract" accounts, depending on their structure. There is no official designation for the SMA, but there are common characteristics that are represented in many types of SMA programs. These characteristics include an open structure or flexible investment security choices; multiple money managers; and a customized investment portfolio formulated for a client's specific investment objectives or desired restrictions.

Thomas H. Forester is an American mutual fund manager. He was the only long-focused United States stock mutual fund manager to make a profit in 2008. He turned a profit in the third quarter of 2002, during the stock market downturn of 2002 and was first in his asset class year-to-date through November 1, 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stock market index</span> Financial metric which investors use to determine market performance

In finance, a stock index, or stock market index, is an index that measures the performance of a stock market, or of a subset of a stock market. It helps investors compare current stock price levels with past prices to calculate market performance.

Harris Associates L.P. is a Chicago-based investment company that has $99 billion under management in assets as of June 30, 2023. Harris manages long-only U.S. equity, international equity, and global equity strategies which are offered through its mutual fund company, the Oakmark Funds, and other types of vehicles. Harris is wholly owned by Natixis Investment Managers, an American-French financial services firm that is principally owned by BPCE. Harris Associates retains full control of investment decisions, investment philosophy, and day-to-day operations.

Style drift occurs when a mutual fund's actual and declared investment style differs. A mutual fund’s declared investment style can be found in the fund prospectus which investors commonly rely upon to aid their investment decisions. For most investors, they assumed that mutual fund managers will invest according to the advertised guidelines, this is however, not the case for a fund with style drift. Style drift is commonplace in today’s mutual fund industry, making no distinction between developed and developing markets according to studies in the United States by Brown and Goetzmann (1997) and in China as reported in Sina Finance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PRIMECAP</span> Asset management firm based in Pasadena, California

PRIMECAP Management Company (Primecap) is an American investment management firm based in Pasadena, California. The firm is known for managing US-focused equity portfolios for The Vanguard Group (Vanguard). In 2004, it launched its own mutual funds, the Odyssey Funds. In additional, it also handles separately managed accounts for institutional investors.

References

  1. "2021 Dodge & Cox (Form ADV Part 2A) Brochure" (PDF). Dodge & Cox Funds. March 31, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  2. 1 2 David B. Zenoff. The Soul of the Organization: How to Ignite Employee Engagement and Productivity at Every Level. Apress, Mar 1, 2014, p. 89
  3. "...the managers [at Dodge & Cox] deftly handle this strategy’s contrarian, value-seeking approach. They look to invest in businesses they believe have competitive edges, good growth prospects, and capable leaders, but whose shares have suffered because of bad news or temporary economic headwinds". Tony Thomas (10 June 2022). "All Around Winner". Morningstar.com, accessed 14 August 2022
  4. Eric Tyson. Investing For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons
  5. Kunal Kapoor, "The Dodge & Cox Difference: An in-depth look at a model fund firm.", (Morningstar, Inc.)
  6. Daniel Ben-Ami (2017). Strategically speaking: Dodge & Cox. IPE.com, February 2017; accessed 2020-12-05
  7. 1 2 Andrew Daniels (2017) Dodge & Cox: Built to Last, Morningstar.com, accessed 18 Jan 2020
  8. Lipper Performance Report
  9. Dodge and Cox Funds: Our Funds, accessed 2020-12-04
  10. "Dodge & Cox to Launch First Fund in Six Years".
  11. Dodge & Cox Balanced Fund, US News & World Report, accessed 17 October 2019
  12. Barclay Palmer (2019) What Are the Oldest Mutual Funds? Investopedia.com, accessed 17 October 2019
  13. Paul B. Farrell (2004). The Lazy Person's Guide to Investing: A Book for Procrastinators, the Financially Challenged, and Everyone Who Worries About Dealing with Their Money. Grand Central Publishing, ISBN   9780759509894
  14. 1 2 3 Landon Thomas, Jr. (2020-10-17), An Old-School Investment Manager That Builds Wealth Quietly. The New York Times, accessed 2020-10-04
  15. Coleman, Murray (15 March 2007). "Few Firms Earn Loyalty of the Wealthy". Wall Street Journal.
  16. John C. Bogle (2005). The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism, Yale University Press, ISBN   9780300119718 p. 127
  17. Motley Fool Staff and Tom Gardner (2014-03-12). 2 Managers Who Get a Thumbs-Up From Jack Bogle MySanAntonio.com, accessed 2020-10-04