Why Dodge & Cox Stock Is Among the Best Value Funds to Invest In

Top marks all around earn Dodge & Cox Stock’s DODGX two share classes and its UCITS vehicle Morningstar Analyst Ratings of Gold.

The investment team's structure and makeup are impressive. Here, an eight-member investment committee oversees the strategy. The committee structure fosters healthy dialogue, consistency of execution, and stability. For example, it lessened the impact of longtime committee member Charles Pohl's well-telegraphed retirement at the end of June 2022, because the team (with Pohl's close collaboration) includes other key figures at the firm, such as new CIO David Hoeft and director of research Steven Voorhis. Behind the committee sits a deep, talented bench of equity and fixed-income analysts, most of whom Dodge & Cox has molded from the start of their careers.

That kind of training helps the managers 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. Such investments might take time to work out and can bounce around in the interim, but the Dodge & Cox team has shown it is patient and opportunistic. Improved risk-management tools are a plus. A recent effort, begun in 2021-22, urges closer consideration before selling winners because value investors sometimes exit too early from once-undervalued stocks that start to work. In all, it's a potent style of investing that works well for long-term investors: The fund's returns over Pohl's 30-year tenure through May 2022 beat 98% of large-value Morningstar Category peers.

It helps that Dodge & Cox is an excellent steward of investors' capital along the way. The firm keeps its funds’ expense ratios in their respective peer groups' cheapest quartiles. In May 2022, the firm launched a new X share class across most funds (including this one) to better serve defined-contribution plans' needs.

This remains a best-in-class option.

Key Proprietary Morningstar Metrics

Morningstar Analyst Rating: Gold Process Pillar: High People Pillar: High Parent Pillar: High