A Holocaust survivor and self-taught value investor who founded Century Management in 1974 without a college degree.
Life story
Arnold Van Den Berg is a Holocaust survivor. As a child he was smuggled into an orphanage to escape the Nazis, and his parents came through a concentration camp — in an interview he recalls his mother saying her faith allowed her to survive. After the war he moved to the United States. Clear public information on his exact birth year and place is limited.
He never attended college, learning the markets through self-study and experience. He still speaks to students about the Holocaust and the lessons of surviving hard times.
How they got started
Van Den Berg entered the investment business in 1968, at the start of a severe bear market, working as a financial adviser at Capital Securities and John Hancock and selling mutual funds. Troubled by his clients' losses, he studied which managers best protected capital and concluded that Benjamin Graham-style value investors delivered the most consistent results.
In 1974, at the market bottom, when most people were fleeing stocks, he saw deep bargains and started Century Management. It became a family business: his son Scott Van Den Berg and son-in-law Jim Brilliant later joined in managing portfolios.
Investment style
Century Management focuses on "absolute value" in the Graham tradition: bottom-up company analysis and buying stocks below intrinsic value. The first goal is protecting client capital, the second achieving consistent long-term results.
Best decisions
Starting in 1974
Van Den Berg launched his firm at the bottom of the deep 1973–74 bear market, seeing an opportunity to buy cheap companies when most investors were avoiding stocks.
Today
Century Management is based in Austin, Texas, and is now led by second- and third-generation family members; in the 2020s Van Den Berg was listed as chairman and co-CIO. Clear public information on his current age and day-to-day involvement is limited.
What to learn from following the portfolio
- A capital-preservation value investor's portfolio is usually full of cheap, "boring" companies — new buys often point to sectors the market has fallen out of love with.
- Such investors hold positions patiently for years; use them as an idea source, not a short-term signal.
- Value portfolios may include banks and heavily indebted companies, which are usually not halal — check each position's halal status in the Portfolio tab.
- 13F data lags up to 45 days and shows only long U.S. stocks.
An introduction based on public sources — not investment advice. Spotted an error? Let us know.