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Look, I know you LOVE Berkshire and feel Warren "hung the moon", which considering his age, me may have. But there ARE good and BETTER mutual funds.
Here's one of mine for example, and it has not only beaten the S&P typically, it has also bested Warren....
Investment Fund
The Growth Fund of America® (AGTHX)
JUMP TO A FUND
Share Class
A
DOWNLOAD DATA ADD TO COMPARE ADD TO TRACKER
SUMMARY
RETURNS
RATINGS & RISK
HOLDINGS
PRICES & DISTRIBUTIONS
FEES & EXPENSES
RESOURCES
Summary
A flexible approach to growth investing. Seeks opportunities in traditional growth stocks as well as cyclical companies and turnaround situations with significant potential for growth of capital.
Price at NAV $76.98 as of 1/17/2025 (updated daily)Fund Assets (millions) $297,657.2
Portfolio Managers 1,2 12Expense Ratio
(Gross/Net %) 3 0.61 / 0.61%
Quarterly Fund Fact Sheet (PDF)
Prospectus
Returns at NAV
Returns at MOP
Read important investment disclosures
21.05%
1-year return
13.60%
5-year return
13.00%
10-year return
0.15%
30-Day SEC Yield
Returns as of 12/31/24 (updated monthly). Yield as of 12/31/24 (updated monthly).
Asset Mix
U.S. Equities90.4% Non-U.S. Equities7.7%
U.S. Bonds0.0% Non-U.S. Bonds0.0%
Cash & Equivalents 4,51.9%
As of 12/31/2024 (updated monthly)
Volatility & Return VIEW LARGER CHART
Read important investment disclosures
Equities
For Class A Shares, this chart tracks the 10-year standard deviation 6 and 10-year annualized return of the equity funds
AGTHX S&P 500 Index Other AF Funds
Standard Deviation as of 12/31/2024 (updated monthly) . Annualized return as of 12/31/2024 (updated monthly) .
Market Capitalization
80.2%
Large
17.7%
Medium
2.1%
Small
$814,220.00 Million
Weighted Average 7
As of 9/30/2024 (updated quarterly). FactSet data as of 12/31/2024 (updated quarterly).
Morningstar Ownership ZoneTM 8
Large Growth
Weighted average of holdings
75% of fund's stock holdings
Morningstar data as of 12/31/24 (updated quarterly)
INSIGHTS ON THE MORNINGSTAR OWNERSHIP ZONE
Description
ObjectiveThe fund's investment objective is to provide you with growth of capital.
Distinguishing Characteristics This fund takes a flexible approach to growth investing, seeking opportunities in traditional growth stocks as well as cyclical companies and turnarounds with significant potential for growth of capital. Geographic flexibility also allows portfolio managers to pursue opportunities outside of the U.S. This differentiated approach has the potential to enable the fund to navigate a variety of market environments.
Types of InvestmentsInvests at least 65% of its assets in common stocks. May also invest in convertibles, preferred stocks, U.S. government securities, bonds and cash equivalents.
Holdings Outside the U.S.The fund may invest up to 25% of its assets in securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States.
Fund Facts
Fund Inception 12/01/1973
Fund Assets (millions)
As of 12/31/2024
$297,657.2
Companies/Issuers
Holdings are as of 12/31/2024 (updated monthly).
298+
Shareholder Accounts
Shareholder accounts are as of 12/31/2024
3,754,625
Regular Dividends Paid 9 Dec
Minimum Initial Investment $250
Capital Gains Paid 9 Dec
Portfolio Turnover (2024) 25%
Fiscal Year-End Aug
Prospectus Date 11/01/2024
CUSIP 399874 10 6
Fund Number 5
Returns
Month-End Returns as of 12/31/24
Quarter-End Returns as of 12/31/24
ANNUAL RETURNS CHART
Returns at NAV 10,11 | at MOP 10,11Read important investment disclosures
AGTHX S&P 500 Index
Growth of 10K 11
High & Low Prices
Read important investment disclosures
For Class A Shares, this chart tracks a hypothetical investment with dividends reinvested, over the last 20 years, or since inception date if the fund has been in existence under 20 years, through 12/31/2022.VIEW LARGER CHART
AGTHX S&P 500 Index
Yield
12-month
Distribution Rates 12 30-day SEC Yield
Fund at NAV 0.38% N/A
Fund at MOP 0.36% 0.15%
As of 12/31/2024 (updated monthly)
Valuation
Price/ Price/ Price/
Book Cash Flow Earnings
Fund 5.76 14.76 24.59
S&P 500 Index 4.30 15.60 21.60
Fund as of 12/31/24. Index as of 9/30/24.
Portfolio Management 1,2LEARN ABOUT THE CAPITAL SYSTEMSM
Years of Experience with Fund
Years of Experience with Capital Group
Years of Experience with Investment Industry
Julian N. Abdey29225Christopher D. Buchbinder292911Mark L. Casey242412J. Blair Frank313023Roz Hongsaranagon22225Carl M. Kawaja373314Aidan O'Connell30215Anne-Marie Peterson302012Andraz Razen26206Martin Romo323214Eric H. Stern35336Alan J. Wilson343412
A boldface number indicates that years of experience with Capital Group is equal to years of experience with investment industry.
Ratings & Risk
Morningstar Rating TM 13
Overall Morningstar RatingTM
Funds rated(1020)
3-yr. Morningstar RatingTM
(1020 funds rated)
5-yr. Morningstar RatingTM
(952 funds rated)
10-yr. Morningstar RatingTM
(748 funds rated)
Overall Morningstar Risk Below Average HIGHLOW
Category Large Growth
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MORNINGSTAR RATINGS
Ratings are based on risk-adjusted returns as of 12/31/2024 (updated monthly).
Lipper Leader Scorecard 14
Overall 3 yr. 5 yr. 10 yr.
Consistent Return Within Category
Funds Rated
(627)
(627)
(593)
(469)
Expense Within Category
Funds Rated
(167)
(167)
(165)
(152)
Preservation Within Category
Funds Rated
(12261)
(12261)
(11246)
(8291)
Tax Efficiency Within Category
Funds Rated
(628)
(628)
(594)
(470)
Total Return Within Category
Funds Rated
(628)
(628)
(594)
(470)
Category Large-Cap Growth Funds
KEYHIGHEST LOWEST
As of 12/31/2024 (updated monthly)
Risk Measures
Fund
Standard Deviation 6 16.74
Sharpe Ratio 6 0.74
For the 10 Years ending 12/31/24 (updated monthly).
American Funds/
Morningstar Benchmark 6
S&P 500 TR USD
R-squared 92
Beta 1.04
Capture Ratio (Downside/Upside) 104/104
American Funds and Morningstar Benchmark for the 10 Years ending 12/31/24 (updated monthly).
I remember the slobbering mob of IHUB fad "players" around 1998 being furious with grandpas Buffett and Munger for not owning any Dot Com stocks. I didn't own any either.
Mutual funds are always marketing to the customer base. No so, "the boys."
I remember the slobbering mob of IHUB fad "players" around 1998 being furious with grandpas Buffett and Munger for not owning any Dot Com stocks. I didn't own any either.
Mutual funds are always marketing to the customer base. No so, "the boys."
And everyone takes Buffett's phone calls over some mutual fund hack.
Mutual Fund Assets TTM Yield Expense Ratio
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares (ticker: VTSAX) $1.8 trillion 1.3% 0.04%
Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX) $1.3 trillion 1.3% 0.04%
Fidelity 500 Index Fund (FXAIX) $599.4 billion 1.2% 0.015%
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTIAX) $463.3 billion 2.8% 0.12%
Fidelity Government Money Market Fund (SPAXX) $351.1 billion 4.5%* 0.42%
Fidelity Government Money Market Fund Premium Class (FZCXX) $351.1 billion 4.6%* 0.32%
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Admiral Shares (VBTLX) $343.4 billion 3.4% 0.05%
Vanguard Institutional Index Fund (VINIX) $309.8 billion 1.3% 0.035%
American Funds The Growth Fund of America Class A (AGTHX) $296.8 billion 0.5% 0.63%
American Funds The Growth Fund of America Class C (GFACX) $296.8 billion 0.0% 1.39%
For that reason alone BRK gets deals the others don't. BRK's office in Omaha has about 25 workers with average tenure of about 20 years. There are no consultants.
And everyone takes Buffett's phone calls over some mutual fund hack.
Yes. I know the advantages they have. However, in the fact they are not a company that produces anything, and their goal is to own a whole bunch of profitable companies, they are in this criteria, a mutual fund.
Of course they have the advantages of not having to report things for a while, and are of course, privy to all sorts of inside info......this isn't a criticism, just a fact.
So again though, how in heck can they possibly keep up with technology if Buffet only likes buying companies he understands and Charlie is gone?
I've followed this for years and admittedly talked my father out of keeping his shares, which in hindsight may or may not have been a mistake. I've never done the math as to whether he would have been better here or APPL, MSFT, MSFT, AMZN and a bevy of other stocks which he bought after selling this.
BRK can keep secrets.
"Berkshire is basically a mutual fund," Yes and_no.
Among many differences, mutual funds are required to distribute 95% of net realized capital gains to shareholders every year. As you know BRK usually keeps it all. BRK wholly owns many corps, some are not publicly traded (such as BNSF, Sees Candies), and is very active in running some of them. BRK can be a smart investment for investors who prefer tax favored capital gains over ordinary taxable income. BRK can lend money.
BRK can be non-diversified if Buffett wants to go that way. Most mutual funds have broad diversification requirements. BRK doesn't.
BRK's management costs are much lower than most mutual funds. BRK can keep secrets.
BRK is a diverse conglomerate with many separate operating companies and several wholly owned units, e.g. BNSF, BK Energy, etc., in addition to many stock investments, as opposed to being akin to a mutual fund fung.
Berkshire is basically a mutual fund, the average mutual fund has a beta around 1, so it is a bit low, however this doesn't change the volatility of the stocks within it.
Which brings up an interesting question.....Warren has always said, he buys stocks he can understand.....will he buy into the AI industry? He owns Microsoft but what else?
$96 billion in net profit. Lord!
What one would expect with all BRK's cash.
Smoothly upward for the past year or more
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/NYSE/berkshire-hathaway-BRK.A/chart/streaming
BRK.A's beta is an extremely low 0.88. The A and B shares usually track each other very closely.
I am shocked by how volatile Berkshire has been lately. Speaks volumes to their focusing more on tech than ever before.
Of course, $KO isn't helping much.
Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates is Formed
Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates Inc. incorporated under Massachusetts laws in 1929 as a consolidation of Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Co., Valley Falls Co., Coventry Co., the Greylock Mills, and Fort Dummer Mills. The company changed its name to Berkshire Hathaway in 1955 when it acquired Hathaway Manufacturing Co. Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates Inc. manufactured fine grades of cotton textiles and specialized in fine lawns, batistes, nainsooks, organdies, dimities, handkerchief cloths, broadcloths, oxfords, sateens, rayon and silk mixtures. Plants were located in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Berkshire offered 33,000 shares of common stock in 1929 at $40 per share as well as 4,860 shares of 7% Preferred stock, also at $40 per share. Unfortunately, the shares were offered in the middle of the 1929 bull market, and the share price collapsed soon after. In November 1929, the ask price for Berkshire stock was still at $40, but in November of 1931, shares sank to $0.50. Sales for the company declined and Berkshire ran losses until 1936.
As late as 1940, shares traded as low as $3, but profits and the share price picked up with the war. Berkshire did well enough that it was able to reinitiate a regular dividend in 1942 (the dividend had been suspended in March 1930), and in September 1947, the company had a 3-for-1 split. Of course, the split marked the high mark for Berkshire and the stock began a downward trend that lasted until 1962. The graph below shows the performance of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock from 1929 until 1967 when Warren Buffett took over the company. As you can see, there was little change in the stock price in the forty years before then. Berkshire lost money between 1930 and 1936, and it lost money in 1957, 1958 and 1961 to 1963. Despite the fact that sales had tripled between the 1930s and the 1960s, there was no comparable increase in profits. In 1963, Berkshire stock was still trading below the price it had been offered at in 1929!
Buffet Buys Berkshire
Buffett began buying shares in Berkshire Hathaway at less than $8 in 1962 and by 1966, Buffett and his partners had taken over the company.As soon as Buffett took over Berkshire, he began focusing on insurance and other businesses rather than textiles. Buffett had invested in American Express when Anthony de Angelis’s fraud caused the price of American Express to drop dramatically in 1964. In the 1970s, Buffett expanded his investments to include media companies (The Washington Post and ABC) as well as other companies that fit his investment criteria. The final Berkshire mill was closed down in 1985.
Berkshire Hathaway paid a regular dividend between 1942 and 1960 when the dividend was suspended due to losses. Buffett paid a $0.10 dividend in November 1967, but that was the only dividend the company ever paid under Buffett. Thenceforward, profits were reinvested in the company to allow the share price to grow. Buffett lived off of his $50,000 salary and outside investment income. Berkshire Hathaway stock continued to trade OTC until October 1976 when it listed on NASDAQ. The shares moved to the New York Stock Exchange in November 1988 and in May 1996, Berkshire issued lower-priced Class B shares to investors who could no longer afford to buy a share of Berkshire Hathaway, Class A shares, which by that time had risen in price to $35,000.
Berkshire Booms
The impact of Buffett on Berkshire was incredible. Shares in Berkshire which had gone nowhere for 40 years began increasing at a rapid pace. The stock closed at $18.625 in 1966. Shares first broke the $100 mark in 1977, the $1000 mark in 1983, the $10,000 mark in 1992 and the $100,000 mark 2006. Shares now trade around $200,000. Buffett could have bought any company and the results would have been the same. As soon as Buffett took over Berkshire Hathaway, he began to focus on other businesses and ignore the company’s core manufacturing business. In fact, at one point, Buffett said that buying the textile business had been the worst trade of his life. I guess everyone is allowed one mistake.
https://globalfinancialdata.com/berkshire-before-buffett
Berkshire holding $325 Billion in CASH:
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=175323996
Tomorrow's BRK earnings release will shed a lot of additional light on things here bar, including any additional share sales, cash position, buybacks, etc.
Meet America's Newest $1 Trillion Company. Warren Buffett Has Spent $77.8 Billion Buying Its Stock Since 2018
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/topstocks/meet-america-s-newest-1-trillion-company-warren-buffett-has-spent-77-8-billion-buying-its-stock-since-2018/ar-AA1sPTie?ocid=BingNewsSerp
"Buffett warns of ‘casino-like’ investor behavior. Here’s the hidden cost of ‘free’ investing"
"The landscape of investing has undergone a seismic shift, with the advent of commission-free trading and low-cost ETFs. While this has empowered retail investors, it has also introduced new challenges. Fees have been significantly reduced, but investors now face less visible but equally harmful costs associated with increased risk."
"Buffett’s warning
In today's "free" investing world, many in the finance industry seem bent on distracting investors from this goal. Investors who have not (yet) embraced broad market indexing are being encouraged to trade more actively and take more risk. As Warren Buffett observed, “markets now exhibit far more casino-like behavior than they did when I was young. The casino now resides in many homes and daily tempts the occupants.”"
"This casino-fication of markets can be seen in the explosion of stock options trading volumes, particularly in lottery-like zero-day-to-expiration options, and the glorification of day-trading on online trading platforms that are almost indistinguishable from online gambling sites. All sorts of leveraged, concentrated, and options-based ETFs have come to market, and have attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in short order."
"Double-whammy for active investors
Unfortunately, the bad news for ordinary investors doesn’t stop here. When retail investors take on extra risk, the market participants taking the other side of their active bets are also, on average, taking extra risk. These professional trading firms need to make extra returns to compensate them for the extra risk they’re taking, and the only place that can come from is the pockets of active retail traders. This is a double whammy for active investors—they need to get extra return for the extra risk they take, but instead they wind up with a lower return, because other market participants higher up in the food chain are making extra returns at their expense. While the payment of fees can be thought of as a zero-sum transfer in that one party pays a fee and the other party receives the fee, the cost of taking extra risk is a negative sum phenomenon across all parties.
While the allure of "free" investing is strong, the “risk matters hypothesis” reminds investors to be cautious about the risk associated with deviating from the market. In most cases, the best bet may be to stick with broadly diversified index funds."
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
I think you're going to have another chance to buy shortly. A shares support currently around $609k. Current price $669015
And the share price just keeps going up, and up!
Best gift however was the knowledge I gave them of how to thrive with Buffett-type blue chips and Bogle-type index funds.
I suspect you are in a similar situation to us and our kids will inherit plenty, including, perhaps some BRK, which will likely be the last thing we ever tap to make RMD's
My kids are mad that I bought myself BRK years ago and none for them. They do own SPY, DIA and even the wonderful-performing QQQ
I almost bought a bunch more B shares a while back when I saw an analysis that the B shares were dirt cheap at $400, but they never got down quite that far, and when you have the cost basis we do in those shares $400 still sounded hugely expensive. Guess not, LOL!
Agree. Great thought.
Too bad Charlie couldn't be here to see the Trillion mark
Berkshire Hathaway Passes $1 Trillion Market Cap for First Time
09:58:15 AM ET, 08/28/2024 - MT Newswires
09:58 AM EDT, 08/28/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) rose in early-morning trading Wednesday, pushing the company's market capitalization past $1 trillion for the first time.
Buffet has created super liquidity, tons of cash available to buy assets if mkt turns
Amazing investor
Has anyone checked on Bar to see if he is still breathing?
Technical issues briefly halt trading for some NYSE stocks in the latest glitch to hit Wall Street
12:30:00 PM ET, 06/03/2024 - Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — A technical issue caused the temporary halt for some stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange Monday, including at least one whose price briefly fell nearly 100%.
Berkshire Hathaway, the company run by famed investor Warren Buffett, saw its A-class shares plunge 99.97% to $185.10 from Friday's closing price of $627,400, before its trading was halted. After the shares later resumed trading, they immediately recovered all those losses and shot toward $700,000.
Throughout the halt, Berkshire Hathaway's lower-priced B-class shares, which typically trade in concert with the A-class shares, seemed to trade more normally.
The New York Stock Exchange said in a trading update on Monday that trading was halted “in a number of stocks” following a technical issue related to the publication of some pricing data. “Impacted stocks have since reopened (or are in the process of reopening) and the price bands issue has been resolved,” it said shortly after 11 a.m. Eastern time.
The exchange did not give a full list of stocks affected, but trading of Berkshire Hathaway's A-class shares was halted at 9:50 a.m. Eastern time, just before the NYSE first said it was investigating a technical issue.
It's not the first glitch to hit Wall Street recently. Last week, S&P Dow Jones Indices said an issue prevented the publication of real-time pricing for its widely followed S&P 500 index for more than an hour during Thursday's late-morning trading.
The industry has just moved to a new system where the settlement of stock trades happen much faster than they used to. Now, most stock trades need to settle in one business day after a deal is made, instead of the prior requirement of two days.
The change was suggested by of the Securities and Exchange Commission suggested after the “meme-stock” craze of early 2021 put an incredible strain on the market's plumbing, which eventually led some brokerages to restrict buying of GameStop and other stocks. That caused much anger among their customers.
$635,000 for 1 Class A share now and trading has resumed.
No it did not go through. I am just wondering if it did, what the consequences would be? I assume it would be fair and square. Because if someone is stupid enough to sell lower than market value... then that is the game. It works both ways. So I believe it would be legit for me to keep.
Did your broker actually process a trade for a purchase of 1 BRK Class A share at $185? Chas. Schwab right now showing a last trade of $185.10, a bid of $1.00 for BRK.A and an Ask of $625,000, with 3.500 shares of volume, and a trading range for today of $185.10 - $626,164.28 SMH
What happens if I got one share at $185? Anyone know ?
Berkshire Stock Looks Good After Selloff as Book Value Grows on Apple Rally
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/berkshire-stock-looks-good-after-selloff-as-book-value-grows-on-apple-rally/ar-BB1ndFiZ?ocid=msedgdhphdr&cvid=b3d0f20496aa4f30a4bfc962222518af&ei=20
The memorial video tribute to open the meeting was very impressive and moving.
Berkshire pares huge Apple stake as cash, operating profit set records
"SHM: OMAHA, Neb. (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway significantly reduced its enormous stake in Apple in the first quarter, as Warren Buffett's conglomerate let its cash hoard swell to a record $189 billion."
Buffett's company also posted a record operating profit exceeding $11 billion, as its insurance operations benefited from improved underwriting and higher income from investments as interest rates rose.Based on changes in Apple's stock price, Berkshire appears to have sold about 115 million shares, or 13% of its holdings, in the quarter, ending with about 790 million."
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/berkshire-posts-record-operating-profit-121448596.html.
The day after the 1987 crash you could buy a BRK A share for around $1,700. or at least in the $1,700's. I remember being on the phone with a client who said he bought a couple in his IRA.
$5,000 would have been around 1988 or '89.
"I REMEMBER WHEN THIS WAS $5000 A SHARE AND I THOUGHT IT WAS TOO EXPENSIVE."
I REMEMBER WHEN THIS WAS $5000 A SHARE AND I THOUGHT IT WAS TOO EXPENSIVE.
I'm surprised to see Charlie had a relatively small position in Berkshire. At least compared to Warren.
Buffett (Warren Edward) 38.24 216,687 -1,600 -0.73 21-Nov-2023 13D 119,134.54 Low Individual Investor United States
Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC 5.85 33,168 0 0.00 31-Dec-2023 13F 1,774,915.86 GARP Low Investment Advisor Boston United States
First Manhattan Co. LLC 3.02 17,130 211 1.25 31-Dec-2023 13F 28,902.43 Deep Value Low Investment Advisor New York United States
Bartlett Wealth Management 1.11 6,314 6,237 8,100.00 31-Dec-2023 13F 9,516.52 Deep Value Moderate Investment Advisor Cincinnati United States
Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) 0.93 5,288 -619 -10.48 31-Dec-2023 13F 1,096,412.63 Core Value Low Sovereign Wealth Fund Oslo Norway
Munger (Charles T) 0.74 4,170 -100 -2.34 08-Mar-2023 Proxy
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Berkshire Hathaway, Inc NYSE: Symbols BRK-A Class A shares BRK-B Class B shares | Berkshire Hathaway, which began in 1839 as a textile mill, neared collapse in 1962 when 32-year old Warren Buffett started buying control in the belief the company could be saved. Buffett initially maintained Berkshire’s textile business, but by 1967, he was expanding into other investments. Berkshire bought stock in the Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) that now forms the core of its colossal insurance operations. Other early acquisitions included See's Candies, Blue Chip Trading Stamps and Dairy Queen. BRK moved from the OTC to the NYSE in 1988. Today Berkshire is a combination of 66 wholly owned subsidiaries such as the BNSF Railroad and 47 passive minority investments, notably its huge stake in Apple. As of 2021, BRK has a market cap of >$600 billion and 360,000 employees. Berkshire Hathaway is the nation's 7th largest business. |
Useful Links Berkshire Subsidiary Companies Buffett's Famous Annual Letters BRK Portfolio Tracker CNBC Buffett Archive http://www.BerkshireHathaway.com/ Buffett's office in Omaha. His desk has no computer Headquarters Address 3555 Farnam Street Omaha, NE 68131 a | |
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