Benjamin Graham is known as the father of value investing, <br />and he pioneered a rigorous, quantitative approach to <br />security analysis. Graham started investing during the early <br />1900s. The landscape then was very different. For example, <br />investing was not considered a respectable profession. It was <br />viewed more like astrology or a game of chance—run by crooks <br />and people with inside information. Using inside information was <br />legal at the time. His groundbreaking investment strategy had its <br />roots in his own personal hardship. <br /> <br />Value investing requires analytical rigor, discipline, patience, and <br />willingness to go against the crowd. Graham was able to follow <br />this approach, and his investment firm posted annualized returns <br />of about 20% per year from 1936 to 1956—roughly double that of <br />the market.
