New TV Show Profiles Some Legendary Investors

Foster Friess must feel that he’s sitting on top of the world these days. And after hearing his story, you’ll probably agree.

Friess is the managing director of Friess Associates, which runs the very successful Brandywine Funds. As an investor who focuses on growth, Friess has wracked up gains of 560 percent over the past 11 years.

And if that’s not enough, Friess disdains the headaches and stress of Wall Street for his very comfortable home in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Individual investors who can only dream of emulating Friess’ classic growth stock performance will get a chance to meet him up close and personal this week as part of an eight-part series on PBS.

Entitled “Beyond Wall Street, The Art of Investing,” the series focuses on issues of fundamental strategy and philosophy that are meaningful to investors.

The series’ producers have done their best to provide a comprehensive, yet easy-to-understand approach to investing.

The series is hosted by two of the big names in personal finance, best-selling authors Jane Bryant Quinn and Andy Tobias. Literally filmed around the world, “Beyond Wall Street” will cover one major topic each week. After the opening program with Friess and his fund’s chief analysts, the series moves to Philadelphia to spend an informative half hour with John Neff.

Neff rates right up there with Warren Buffet for the title of the best individual investor on the planet. Recently retired from Wall Street, Neff managed the Windsor Fund for 31 years, realizing an average annual return of 13.3 percent.

The program zeroes in on one of his biggest investment ventures - and biggest jackpot: his huge investment in Citibank in the 1980s when it was being hammered on the Street. Neff spends the half-hour explaining his contrarian style and how he uses it to identify undervalued stocks.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Scripps-McClatchy Western Service