The S&P 500 is on such a tear that even Warren Buffett can't keep up (2024)

Even the Oracle of Omaha, widely considered one of the most successful investors, has not been able to outperform the booming S&P 500 in recent years.

The stock of Warren Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway has nearly equaled the return of the S&P 500 for the past two decades, according to MarketWatch.

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“As Buffett has acknowledged in prior annual shareholder letters, Berkshire Hathaway’s sheer size now makes it much more difficult to find companies that are both significantly undervalued and large enough to make a difference to Berkshire’s bottom line,” writes MarketWatch contributor Mark Hulbert.

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Another reason could involve the influence of the portfolio’s co-managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, who were hired in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Before that, Buffett managed Berkshire’s portfolio by himself.

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Buffet has previously acknowledged the efficiency of the S&P 500. In an annual letter to shareholders in 2013 he said 90% of his wife’s inheritance would be invested in an S&P 500 index fund.

“One bequest provides that cash will be delivered to a trustee for my wife’s benefit,” Buffett wrote in the letter. “My advice to the trustee could not be more simple: Put 10% of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund.”

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Buffett’s latest moves

Buffett’s latest letter to shareholders, along with Berkshire Hathaway’s earnings report, is set to come out next Friday (Feb. 23).

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In the meantime, recent US Securities and Exchange Commission filings have provided insight into Buffett’s recent stock moves—for example, Berkshire Hathaway sold off about 1% of its stake in Apple in the last quarter of 2023.

The company now has a 5.9% stake in the tech giant, worth about $176 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. That is still over half of the company’s more than $300 billion stock portfolio.

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During the same period, Berkshire Hathaway has increased its stake in Chevron by 18% to more than $18 billion, according to Forbes, and also grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by almost 9% to about $14.5 million.

Its stake in the satellite radio company SiriusXM increased to about $220 million, MarketWatch reported.

The S&P 500 is on such a tear that even Warren Buffett can't keep up (2024)

FAQs

What did Warren Buffett say about the S&P 500? ›

In the Berkshire Hathaway 2020 meeting, he said, “In my view, for most people, the best thing to do is own the S&P 500 index fund.” But why is that?

Has Berkshire Hathaway beaten the S&P 500? ›

Historical Performance

Berkshire Hathaway: Has historically outperformed the S&P 500 over the long term under Warren Buffett's leadership. However, past performance doesn't guarantee future results.

What are the Warren Buffett's first 3 rules of investing money? ›

What are Warren Buffett's biggest investing rules?
  • Rule 1: Never lose money. This is considered by many to be Buffett's most important rule and is the foundation of his investment philosophy. ...
  • Rule 2: Focus on the long term. ...
  • Rule 3: Know what you're investing in.
Mar 6, 2024

What stock does Warren Buffett recommend? ›

As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, 66 hedge funds out of the 933 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Occidental Petroleum Corp (NYSE:OXY). In addition to Occidental, Buffett also likes Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX).

Why not invest all money in S&P 500? ›

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 if I invested $500 a month in S&P 500? ›

For example, if you are able to commit to investing $500 a month in an S&P 500 index fund like the Vanguard 500 Fund (NYSEMKT: VOO), you'll eventually have $1 million, and that includes paying the 0.03% expense ratio in the ETF, meaning you'll pay 3 cents each year for every $100 you have invested in the index fund.

Who will take over Berkshire Hathaway after Warren Buffett? ›

OMAHA, Nebraska, May 6 (Reuters) - When Greg Abel succeeds Warren Buffett at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa. N) , opens new tab, he is expected to preserve the culture at the behemoth even if he does not match the star power of his legendary boss.

What is Warren Buffett's average annual return? ›

Warren Buffett has attained legendary status in the investment world, thanks to the incredible returns he has racked up over the past nearly-60 years at Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) . Buffett has generated average annual returns of 22%, doubling the S&P 500, since he got started in 1965, according to Yahoo Finance.

What is Warren Buffett's biggest investment? ›

Apple is Berkshire's largest public stock holding by far. Berkshire's $151 billion Apple stake is roughly four times larger than its second-largest holding. Buffett first bought Apple shares in the first quarter of 2016, and Apple's stock price is up more than 500% since the beginning of 2016.

What is the 70 30 rule Warren Buffett? ›

A 70/30 portfolio is an investment portfolio where 70% of investment capital is allocated to stocks and 30% to fixed-income securities, primarily bonds.

What are Warren Buffett's 5 rules? ›

Here's Buffett's take on the five basic rules of investing.
  • Never lose money. ...
  • Never invest in businesses you cannot understand. ...
  • Our favorite holding period is forever. ...
  • Never invest with borrowed money. ...
  • Be fearful when others are greedy.
Jan 11, 2023

What did Warren Buffett tell his wife to invest in? ›

Buffett said he revises his will every three years, and he still advises his wife to allocate 10% of her inheritance to short-term government bonds and 90% to a low-cost S&P 500 index fund.

What stocks does Nancy Pelosi invest in? ›

8 Top Nancy Pelosi Stocks to Buy
  • 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)

What stock is Warren Buffett buying in 2024? ›

Berkshire Hathaway publicizes its stock purchases, sales and holdings each quarter. The so-called Warren Buffett stocks include Apple, Atlanta Braves Holdings and Coca-Cola as of May 2024.

What stocks does Elon Musk invest in? ›

Key Takeaways

Musk's best investments include PayPal, SpaceX, DeepMind Technologies, Tesla, and The Boring Company. Elon Musk is an engineer, industrial designer, and technology entrepreneur known for disrupting multiple industries.

Do most investors beat the S&P 500? ›

The phrase "beating the market" means earning an investment return that exceeds the performance of the Standard & Poor's 500 index. Commonly called the S&P 500, it's one of the most popular benchmarks of the overall U.S. stock market performance. Everybody tries to beat it, but few succeed.

Who owns most of the S&P 500? ›

It's Vanguard. Thanks to the surging popularity of its index funds, Vanguard is now the No. 1 owner of 330 stocks in the S&P 500, or two-thirds of the world's most important collection of stocks, says an Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSmith.

What would be the value if you had invested $1000 into the S&P 500 index fund 10 years ago? ›

Over the past decade, you would have done even better, as the S&P 500 posted an average annual return of a whopping 12.68%. Here's how much your account balance would be now if you were invested over the past 10 years: $1,000 would grow to $3,300. $5,000 would grow to $16,498.

What is the best S&P 500 index fund? ›

What's the best S&P 500 index fund?
Index fundMinimum investmentExpense ratio
Vanguard 500 Index Fund - Admiral Shares (VFIAX)$3,000.000.04%.
Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund (SWPPX)No minimum.0.02%.
Fidelity 500 Index Fund (FXAIX)No minimum.0.015%.
Fidelity Zero Large Cap Index (FNILX)No minimum.0.0%.
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3 days ago

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