On September 10, 2025, Tweedy, Browne Company LLC, launched the International Insider + Value ETF (ICPY). The ETF is both actively managed and fully transparent, which might engender some risk (for example, front-running by high-speed traders) but also simplifies the structure and reduces complexity.
The managers have the freedom to create an all-cap, all-world portfolio that can invest in developed and developing markets and, to a limited extent, in the US. The plan is simple and research-driven:
- Identify undervalued stocks because value works
- Identify undervalued stocks where the corporate insiders confirm your assessment by either buying large amounts of the stock themselves or initiating stock buybacks.
The logic: if you think it’s valuable and the leaders of the company think it’s valuable, then there’s a pretty good chance that it actually is valuable. At which point Tweedy buys and holds.
There are, of course, a lot of details that go into the simple word “identify.” Tweedy gives their capsule description of their discipline:
Most investments in Tweedy, Browne portfolios have one or more of the following investment characteristics: low stock price in relation to book value, low price-to-earnings ratio, low price-to-cash-flow ratio, above-average dividend yield, low price-to-sales ratio as compared to other companies in the same industry, low corporate leverage, low share price, purchases of a company’s own stock by the company’s officers and directors, company share repurchases, a stock price that has declined significantly from its previous high price and/or small market capitalization. Academic research and studies have indicated a historical statistical correlation between each of these investment characteristics and above-average investment rates of return over long measurement periods.
Tweedy has also identified some “insiders” as more significant than others (roughly, the C-suite folks) and some purchases as more significant (large, voluntary, contrarian).
All of which explains, by the way, the ticker symbols for the two ETFs: COPY and ICPY, as in “copy the lead of informed insiders.”
Tweedy, Browne is one of the classic “white shoe” investment firms. It’s more than a century old and served as Benjamin Graham’s original broker. It long ago published (and gave away) a small classic, “What Has Worked in Investing” (1992 with updates), which presented the evidence for global value investing from 50 academic studies. I have always loved the humility reflected in that title: they report the empirical evidence on what has worked up until now, they do not trumpet the magic formula of “What Will Work in Investing.” The firm manages $7.2 billion between separate accounts, private funds, offshore funds, mutual funds, and ETFs. Tweedy, Browne insiders – the managing directors, employees, family members, and “a retired principal” – have collectively invested more than $1.7 billion in Tweedy, Browne portfolios (as of 6/30/2025).
Like MFO, Morningstar is impressed:
Tweedy, Browne boasts one of the most seasoned investment teams in the industry. The seven-member investment committee that collegially runs this strategy has about 30 years of firm tenure on average. While a few members are in the later stages of their careers, the firm has long been thoughtful about succession planning and has promoted a few analysts to the committee since 2013…
Alongside a solid team is a disciplined and consistent approach. With roots dating back to 1920, the firm takes great pride in its value investing heritage. The team prefers quality franchises that are appropriately capitalized and run by good management teams, but only if they are trading at compelling valuations…
[Their funds] consistently rank among the category’s least volatile options [which] stems from the team’s balance of quality and valuation, willingness to hold cash, and currency-hedging practices. Despite relatively poor recent performance, this strategy [referring to International Value] comes with a predictable return profile—consistently providing ballast during down markets while lagging in rallies—and it’s likely to shine on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term.
ICPY’s sibling, Tweedy, Browne Insider + Value ETF has seen both strong years (top 24% YTD among global small-cap funds) and strong fund inflows ($158 million in AUM in under a year) since launch in December 2024.
The opening expense ratio for the fund is 0.80%, perfectly reasonable for an actively managed ETF. The homepage for the Tweedy, Browne ETFs is aesthetically spare and easily navigable.
