Dodge & Cox officials believe in employee ownership almost as strongly as they hold to value investing.
Most of Dodge & Cox's employees are long term, with many having worked only for the firm.
Chairman and Chief Investment Officer Charles F. Pohl and Dana M. Emery, CEO, president and director of fixed income, have been with the firm since 1983 and 1984, respectively.
Ms. Emery said 79 of the firm's 234 employees are owners, receiving increased stock ownership throughout their career, encouraging them to stay at the firm.
“People understand the bylaws here and understand that the way that they earn the economics of the equity ownership is through a long-term career,” she said.
But only active employees can remain owners. Ms. Emery said the firm requires employees to start selling their shares at age 65.
“We've seen a lot other firms almost get forced into a sale in order to liquidate the senior people and get them the market value of the shares,” Ms. Emery said.
Relatives of the Dodge and Cox families are not part of the firm and Mr. Pohl said that is intentional.
“There's an anti-nepotism provision that (co-founder Van Duyn Dodge) wrote into the bylaws so there are no younger Dodges or Coxes or whatever, so you don't have that problem of somebody trying to pass it onto their children,” Mr. Pohl said.
Mr. Pohl and Ms. Emery took over leadership of the firm in May 2013 as part of a planned succession, the fourth leadership change since the firm's founding in 1930.
