Donald Smith & Co., Inc. is an investment management firm that was founded by Donald G. Smith in 1980. Born in the rural town of Bradford, Illinois, Donald grew up on a small family farm. Taking an early interest in investing, he frequented the local library to read the Wall Street Journal and bought his very first stock with the money made from raising and selling hogs. Later as a law school student at UCLA, Donald befriended Benjamin Graham, a formative experience that had an enduring impact on his investment philosophy.

After receiving his MBA at Harvard Business School, Donald joined Capital Research where he spent over a decade, eventually becoming a portfolio manager who was well-known for his deep value approach. Later, he became the CIO of the seventh largest insurance company in the country at the time, Home Insurance Company. It was there that he built a new team of young investment professionals one of whom was Richard Greenberg, current CEO of Donald Smith & Co., Inc.

When Donald Smith founded Donald Smith & Co., Inc, Richard Greenberg joined him from their previous employer. The firm was focused on investing in low price-to-tangible-book-value stocks, an approach that has remained constant to this day. The two portfolio managers worked together for nearly 4 decades until Donald Smith's passing in 2019. The firm is now led by Richard Greenberg, CEO / Co-CIO, and Jon Hartsel, Co-CIO / Director of Research.

The firm employs a deep value approach of investing in stocks of out-of-favor companies that sell in the bottom decile of price-to-tangible book value ratios with significant earnings potential over the next 2-4 years. This is a very contrarian strategy, and we manage concentrated, “best ideas” portfolios of stocks for institutional clients.

The team has implemented the same investment philosophy since firm inception with great success, and has never deviated from this style. It is a highly differentiated approach.

We offer separately managed accounts across six composites:
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All Cap Value Equity
Large Cap Concentrated Value Equity
Mid Cap Value Equity
Small Cap Value Equity
Micro Cap Value Equity
Global Value Equity