We have operated as an investment-led firm since 1975

Our History

Throughout our history, compelling investments have been Southeastern's driving force.

Every decision we make is driven by where we would like to invest our own capital. Long-term clients have joined us as partners, and we have added new strategies when opportunities warranted. Likewise, we have closed in periods when qualifying investments were not available.

1975

Southeastern Asset Management formed to take advantage of opportunities created by the 1973-74 stock market crash and bear market.

1987

Longleaf Partners Fund created to allow all employees to invest alongside clients.

At the outset, we thought we could create a firm founded on Ben Graham’s discipline. That’s what we did and after more than 40 years, we’re continuing to pursue exactly that.

O. Mason Hawkins, CFA

Chairman

1989

Longleaf Partners Small-Cap Fund created to purchase compelling smaller-cap opportunities.

1995

Longleaf Partners Fund temporarily closes to new investors given a limited opportunity set and elevated cash levels.

1996

Longleaf Partners Realty Fund created to take advantage of growing universe of undervalued, publicly-traded real estate opportunities.

We will consider closing the Funds to new investors if our size begins to restrict our ability to manage the portfolios or if closing would otherwise benefit existing shareholders.

Southeastern Governing Principles

1997

Longleaf Partners Small-Cap Fund closes to new investors, reflecting limited opportunity set and liquidity considerations.

1998

Longleaf Partners Fund re-opens, after three years of being closed, as global market dislocations present new investment opportunities.

Tokyo office opened to deepen research in significantly discounted Asian companies.

Longleaf Partners International Fund created to take advantage of numerous undervalued businesses located outside of the US.

1999

Longleaf Partners Fund temporarily closes as a result of the limited qualifying opportunity set.

2000

Southeastern’s Global separately-managed account strategy launches when a client asks for a "best ideas" portfolio of US and Non-US businesses.

Longleaf Partners Fund re-opens as the technology bubble leaves many qualified non-tech businesses ignored and extremely discounted.

London office opened to expand our network and deepen research in compelling investment opportunities across Europe.

2001

Longleaf Partners Realty Fund permanently closed and capital returned to shareholders as the undervalued, publicly-traded real estate universe shrinks enough to limit long-term opportunities.

2004

Longleaf Partners Fund & Longleaf Partners International Fund temporarily close as a result of limited investment opportunities in both strategies.

We rarely ever seed a new strategy and do so only when we find an opportunity set where we want to invest our own capital that we cannot access in our current funds.

Ross Glotzbach, CFA

CEO and Head of Research

2006

Longleaf Partners International Fund re-opens as qualifying investments outside of the US become available again.

Singapore office opened to grow our network, deepen research and expand trading capabilities in Asia.

2008

Longleaf Partners Fund re-opens as qualifying companies become discounted with the demise of the US credit and housing bubble.

2010

Longleaf Partners Global UCITS Fund opened to allow pooled vehicle access for Non-US investment partners.

2013

Longleaf Partners Global Fund opened to allow pooled vehicle access for US investment partners in our Global strategy.

2014

Asia Pacific separately managed accounts and Longleaf Partners Asia Pacific UCITS Fund opened to take advantage of compelling opportunity set in Asia, including Japan.

2015

Concentrated European strategy created to take advantage of opportunity to constructively engage with European management teams.

2017

Longleaf Partners Fund temporarily closes to new investors as Southeastern sells fully valued businesses and finds limited qualifying discounted companies.

2019

Longleaf Partners Fund re-opens as market volatility set off by global fears of trade wars, geopolitical unrest and slower economic growth creates opportunity.

Concentrated European strategy permanently closed and capital returned to shareholders after cash steadily increased, and internal capital reinvested in other Longleaf Funds to take advantage of compelling opportunities.

2020

Longleaf Partners Small-Cap Fund temporarily re-opens, as qualifying companies become more attractive amid indiscriminate selling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021

Concentrated European strategy launched to take advantage of the opportunity to constructively engage with European companies and key stakeholders to address structural inefficiencies and drive positive change.

Greenwood Pine Partners, a minority-owned, mission-driven investment management firm launched with the goal to produce strong risk-adjusted returns through a US-focused, all-cap strategy, managed by PM and majority owner Brandon Arrindell, while also working to address the issue of minority underrepresentation in asset management.

Southeastern’s unique guiding principles have allowed us to operate in partnership with our clients for over four decades. We recognize the importance of partnering with the right clients and not running our investment company as an asset gathering business, but rather doing the right thing with our own money. The right clients give you the flexibility to outperform over the long-term, and they help ask the right, tough questions to make you better. Southeastern has done some unconventional things to ensure that we are attracting the right client partners over time. We think it will lead to strong absolute returns and firm stability over the next four-plus decades.

Ross Glotzbach, CFA

CEO and Head of Research

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