TIP747: JOHN NEFF: THE VALUE INVESTOR WHO QUIETLY CRUSHED THE S&P 500

W/ KYLE GRIEVE

TIP747: JOHN NEFF: THE VALUE INVESTOR WHO QUIETLY CRUSHED THE S&P 500 W/ KYLE GRIEVE

23 August 2025

On today’s episode, Kyle Grieve discusses legendary value investor John Neff, one of the most underrated investors in value investing, who quietly outperformed the S&P 500 for decades. You’ll learn more about Neff’s contrarian mindset, his focus on low PE stocks, and his disciplined yet unconventional approach, which shaped one of the most impressive track records in investing history.

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IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:

  • The unconventional mindset that made John Neff a true contrarian investor
  • Why “boring” businesses can be surprisingly beautiful wealth builders
  • How lessons from his father and mentors shaped Neff’s investing philosophy
  • The hidden danger of investment committees that drag down star performers
  • The two simple categories Neff used to organize his view of the stock market
  • Why Neff’s strategy leaned into dividends—and how that powered his outperformance
  • The overlooked way he measured actual business value against the market
  • How Neff found profits hiding in slow growers, cyclicals, and even high PE stocks
  • The surprising blind spot of value investors who ignore compounders
  • And so much more!

 

 

 

TRANSCRIPT

Disclaimer: The transcript that follows has been generated using artificial intelligence. We strive to be as accurate as possible, but minor errors and slightly off timestamps may be present due to platform differences.

[00:00:03] Kyle Grieve: Today we’re going to cover a value investing legend who was rarely discussed among the greats, but most definitely belongs there. That’s John Neff, a low P/E investor who outperformed the S&P 500 by 3% per year for nearly three decades. My favorite part about Neff was the vast array of waste that he won.

[00:00:21] Kyle Grieve: Yes, he was best known as a low P/E investor who gobbled up cheap shares in businesses that were unloved by the market, but that wasn’t the single investing strategy. I think that really defined him. Instead of looking exclusively for cheap stocks, he ventured into cyclicals, moderate growers, and my personal favorite.

[00:00:37] Kyle Grieve: misunderstood growth. While the majority of his contemporaries chased well-known growth stocks, John chose a road less traveled, and like many value investors, he was forced to endure some pretty tough times of underperformance. However, he never abandoned his value investing roots and continued to invest wherever he could find value.

[00:00:56] Kyle Grieve: It didn’t matter if the stock had a P/E of 4 or 25, if it was undervalued and had the characteristics of a winner, he was fair game. I have a deep admiration for investors who own a diverse amount of stocks at wide ranges of valuation metrics and can still outperform the market. Neff was someone who excelled at investing and did a great job of sharing his investing strategy, which I’m going to cover with you today.

[00:01:18] Kyle Grieve: So whether you’re in value investor looking at cigar butts, or a growth investor looking for hidden growth, you’re going to enjoy this episode. Now let’s get right into this week’s episode on John Neff.

[00:01:32] Intro: Since 2014 and through more than 180 million downloads, we’ve studied the financial markets and read the books that influence self-made billionaires the most. We keep you informed and prepared for the unexpected. Now for your host, Kyle Grieve.

[00:01:56] Kyle Grieve: Welcome to The Investor’s Podcast. I’m your host, Kyle Grieve, and today we’re going to be discussing one of the most underrated legends of the value investing world. And that’s John Neff. So I’ll be citing his autobiography here, which is called John Neff on Investing. The book provides a very, very good illustration of his long and successful career, and a lot of details on his strategy, which is what I’m going to be focusing on.

[00:02:19] Kyle Grieve: So John Neff’s investing career ran about three decades, and during that time, he outperformed the S&P 500 by 3% annually, which is one of the most impressive investing beats I’ve ever seen. One thing I really admire about John was his steadfast ability to just maintain his strategy when other strategies were working better for a time.

[00:02:38] Kyle Grieve: Now, he ran the Windsor Fund from 1964 to 1995, meaning he was around during the Go-Go years where investors who chase momentum were very well rewarded until they weren’t. But let’s start with John’s early life before we transitioned to some of his primary principles here. So John loved arguing. His mom told them that he would argue with a signpost, and this is a pretty common trait that I think I’ve seen in many value investors.

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