What index does Warren Buffett invest in?
In lieu of individual stocks, Buffett sees an S&P 500 index fund as the best option for the average person because it provides exposure to a "cross-section of businesses that in aggregate are bound to do well." Indeed, the S&P 500 has been a consistent moneymaker for patient investors.
Top Warren Buffett Stocks By Size
Apple (AAPL), 905.6 million. Coca-Cola (KO), 400 million. Kraft Heinz (KHC), 325.6 million. Occidental Petroleum (OXY), 248.1 million.
Buffett has said one of the best ways to build your retirement savings is to “consistently buy an S&P 500 low-cost index fund. I think it's the thing that makes the most sense practically all of the time.”
Berkshire Hathaway stock held strong in 2022, making a slight gain compared to a loss of more than 19% for the S&P 500. But it lagged in 2023 rising about 16% compared to the S&P 500's gain of 24%. So far this year it is up around 16%. All-around performance is strong, but not quite ideal, for Berkshire Hathaway stock.
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO.
- SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY.
Although old-guard favorites such as American Express (AXP) and Coca-Cola (KO) still form the core of the portfolio, Buffett & Co. have taken a shine to names such as Apple (AAPL) and Amazon.com (AMZN), and even to lesser-known firms such as Snowflake (SNOW) and Nu Holdings (NU).
He owns a small bit of each in his portfolio for Berkshire, too. The two investments held in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio that Buffett recommends more than anything else are two S&P 500 index funds. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO). Image source: The Motley Fool.
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett has regularly recommended an S&P 500 index fund. The S&P 500 has been a profitable investment over every rolling 20-year period in history. The S&P 500 returned 1,800% over the last three decades, compounding at a pace that would have turned $450 per month into $983,800.
Warren Buffet's 2013 letter explains the 90/10 rule—put 90% of assets in S&P 500 index funds and the other 10% in short-term government bonds.
Our recommendation for the best overall S&P 500 index fund is the Fidelity 500 Index Fund. With a 0.015% expense ratio, it's the cheapest on our list. And it doesn't have a minimum initial investment requirement, sales loads or trading fees. Over the last 10 years, FXAIX has returned an annualized 12.02%.
Should I invest in Berkshire Hathaway A or B?
Class A shares will typically grant more voting rights than other classes. This difference is often only pertinent for shareholders who take an active role in the company. Nevertheless, because of the voting rights, A-shares are often more valuable than B shares.
- Coca-Cola (KO) Berkshire began buying Coca-Cola's stock in the fall of 1988, eventually building a $1.3 billion position. ...
- American Express (AXP) ...
- Moody's (MCO) ...
- Apple (AAPL) ...
- Globe Life (GL)
First, VOO has a clear advantage in terms of expense ratio. VOO's expense ratio is 0.03% compared to 0.20% of QQQ, which is more than three times cheaper. Next is diversification. While both ETFs are well diversified, VOO is less concentrated in both industry and top 10 holdings.
Stock | Number of Shares Owned | Value of Stake |
---|---|---|
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) | 400,000,000 | $23.8 billion |
Chevron (NYSE:CVX) | 126,093,326 | $18.9 billion |
Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) | 248,018,128 | $15.1 billion |
Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) | 325,634,818 | $11.3 billion |
Buffett's Two Lists is a productivity, prioritisation and focusing approach where you write down your top 25 goals; circle your 5 highest priorities; then focus on those 5 while 'avoiding at all costs' doing anything on the remaining 20.
ETF | Assets Under Management | Expense Ratio |
---|---|---|
Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) | $70 billion | 0.10% |
VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) | $16.3 billion | 0.35% |
Invesco S&P MidCap Momentum ETF (XMMO) | $1.6 billion | 0.34% |
SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) | $1.8 billion | 0.35% |
- Palo Alto Networks Inc. (ticker: PANW)
- Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
- Apple Inc. (AAPL)
- Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
- Alphabet Inc. (GOOG)
- Tesla Inc. (TSLA)
- AllianceBernstein Holding LP (AB)
- Walt Disney Co. (DIS)
Ticker | Company | % Portfolio |
---|---|---|
MSFT | Microsoft Corp. | 33.98% |
BRK.B | Berkshire Hathaway Inc. | 16.80% |
CNI | Canadian National Railway Co. | 16.29% |
WM | Waste Management Inc. | 14.92% |
When he goes down a track that doesn't make sense, he does not pay attention to anything, which is a weakness for a big business leader like him. His biggest weakness is greed. He loves money too much that it interfered with his relationship with his family for a long time.
The S&P 500 is all US-domiciled companies that over the last ~40 years have accounted for ~50% of all global stocks. By just owning the S&P 500 you miss out on almost half of the global opportunity set which is another ~10,000 public companies.
What did Warren Buffett tell his wife to invest in?
The percentage may shock you.
Part of the cash would go directly to his wife and part to a trustee. He told the trustee to put 10% of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90% in a low-cost S&P 500 index fund.
- American Express: 20.6% stake. ...
- Ally Financial: 9.6% Stake. ...
- Bank of America: 13% Stake. ...
- Capital One: 3.3% Stake. ...
- Citigroup: 2.9% Stake. ...
- Nu Holdings: 2.3% Stake.
What's happening: Widely known as the “Buffett Indicator,” it measures the size of the US stock market against the size of the economy by taking the total value of all publicly traded companies (measured using the Wilshire 5000 index) and dividing that by the last quarterly estimate for gross domestic product.
The calculation of the Buffett Indicator involves dividing the total market value of all publicly-traded stocks within a country by the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Fundamentally, Warren Buffett doesn't want to own anything that can't produce something, be it income, revenue or some type of profit. To him, gold is the “classic case” of an investment that doesn't produce anything.
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