Founder of Pzena Investment Management — a "deep value" investor who buys the cheapest, temporarily troubled companies.
Life story
Richard "Rich" Pzena was born on January 8, 1959, in New York and grew up in Livingston, New Jersey, graduating from Livingston High School in 1976. In 1980 he earned both a B.S. and an MBA from the Wharton School. Little is publicly known about his parents or childhood.
How they got started
Pzena began as an oil industry analyst at Amoco in Chicago and New Orleans. He then joined Sanford C. Bernstein in New York, rising to Director of U.S. Equity Investments and Chief Research Officer.
He founded his own firm in 1996. It went public in October 2007, but in 2022 it bought out public shareholders at $9.60 a share — a 49% premium — and became private again on October 31, 2022. In 2023 he handed the CEO role to Caroline Cai. The firm also manages money for large institutions such as Vanguard and John Hancock.
Investment style
Pzena practises deep value: he searches the cheapest part of the market for companies depressed by temporary problems whose long-term earnings power remains intact. The firm sums it up as "value isn't a factor, it's a philosophy", relying on fundamental research into what a business can earn in normal conditions.
Portfolios are concentrated, and as Barron's has noted, the approach has sometimes produced volatile returns.
Best decisions
Recovery after 2008
After heavy crisis losses the firm stuck with its approach; management called 2013 the best year in a decade, and assets under management grew 33% year on year.
Taking the firm private (2022)
After 15 years as a listed company he bought out shareholders at a 49% premium and restored the firm's independence.
Biggest mistakes
2008: the financials value trap
Going into the financial crisis the firm bet heavily on cheap financial stocks; several turned into value traps, badly hurting the firm's results and reputation.
Today
In 2026 Pzena is 67. Since 2023 the firm has been led by CEO Caroline Cai. Pzena Investment Management is 100% privately owned, based at 320 Park Avenue in New York with offices in London, Melbourne and Dublin, and has about 170 employees.
What to learn from following the portfolio
- Pzena buys cheap, unloved companies — a new position is often a contrarian bet on a business in a rough patch, and the payoff may take years.
- Deep value portfolios tend to include banks, insurers and highly leveraged cyclicals, which usually fail halal screening. Check each position's halal status in the Portfolio tab.
- The 2008 experience shows a low price is not the same as safety: leverage needs to be checked separately.
- 13F is 45 days delayed and shows only long US-listed positions; the firm's international portfolios are not fully visible here.
An introduction based on public sources — not investment advice. Spotted an error? Let us know.