Tweedy Browne has a reputation for being one of the world’s coolest mutual fund companies.

Its investment philosophy is aligned with the late Benjamin Graham’s concept of buying undervalued stocks, and the company is renowned for its integrity.

In a world where financial planners often compare portfolios to the S&P 500 (without including dividends) it’s nice to see honest fund companies that go beyond most people’s expectations.

For example, let me give you some raw data, as it applies to Tweedy Browne’s long standing Value Fund.

I’ll compare the results to the S&P 500 (with dividends reinvested) from 1993 until June 30, 2011.

Considering the length of this time period (18 years) and considering that we are comparing apples to apples (a stock market mutual fund vs. a stock market index) the comparison with the S&P 500 is a fair one.

I’ll give you the data that shows up on Tweedy Browne’s website, and then I’ll showcase how this information could be misleading, if presented by a less scrupulous firm or advisor.

Average Annual Return for Tweedy Browne Value Fund: December 8, 1993 to June 30, 2011 compared to the S&P 500 index

Few American fund companies will show you a comparative return versus the S&P 500. And some unscrupulous organizations that make this comparison will fail to include the results of dividends.

But only the coolest of all companies will show you how their funds stack up to the S&P 500 index after taxes.

For those who are investing money outside of tax deferred accounts, this latest comparison is essential.

You can see that the Tweedy Browne value fund performed spectacularly over the past 18 years—beating the S&P 500 index: 8.61% a year for the fund, compared to 8.14% a year for the index.

But Tweedy Browne takes the coolest step next. It gives you their fund’s return after taxes, and compares that to the S&P 500.

Because mutual funds involve the buying and selling of stocks, they are less tax efficient than index funds. Tweedy Browne gives a post tax comparison to the S&P 500.

Even an index has a taxable liability, however small, and I (not Tweedy Browne!) estimated that liability above, giving the index an estimated after-tax return of 8% per year, versus the 8.14% that Tweedy Browne reports for it.

Let’s compare what $10,000 would look like for an equal dollar investment in the Tweedy Browne Value Fund, versus the S&P 500 index from December 8, 1993 to June 30, 2011

Tweedy Browne is definitely one of the coolest fund companies around.  Here are the results of the Tweedy Browne Value Fund pasted directly off the Tweedy Browne website.

Annual Total Returns For Periods Ending 06/30/11 (%)

 Honesty is a virtue in any industry. But it’s rare indeed, in the money management business.