1920s / 1930s / 1940s / 1950s / 1960s / 1970s / 1980s / 1990s / 2000s

The decade ahead marked major changes at Tri-Continental.
 
The Corporation entered into a contract to furnish investment advice and service to Selected Industries Incorporated, a leveraged closed-end investment company. Later, as the entire investment industry began to consolidate, many competing investment companies were either forced into liquidation or found it impractical to continue. Consequently, some investment-company sponsors turned to Tri-Continental for help. The Corporation acquired more assets and also provided portfolio management assistance to several sponsors of investment management companies and their respective funds. Still, times were hard, and to lower expenses and dividend liability, Tri-Continental reduced its payroll by 20% and bought back 11.5% of its outstanding Preferred Stock. Even so, by the end of 1932, Tri-Continental's net asset value was negative.
 
Entering 1933, Tri-Continental's investment policy was based on the belief that the outlook for American business was improving, and that security prices, especially those of common stocks, should reflect this improvement. Even though many of its securities yielded little or no return, the portfolio was positioned by the end of the year with 70% invested in common stocks to take full advantage of the anticipated recovery. Tri-Continental's action proved correct: the market, as measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), began recovering in 1933, and by March 1937 had regained nearly half of the losses experienced during the beginning of the decade. In the summer of 1938, a rapid recovery of business activity began. By September 1938, Tri-Continental Corporation had formed a new corporate subsidiary, Union Securities Corporation, to originate, underwrite, and distribute securities.
 
The decade ended with World War II just around the corner. Production lines reached record levels, consumer incomes and retail sales substantially improved, and industrial profits and dividends rose while a flurry of consumer "stockpiling" began.