World-renowned investor Warren Buffett is arguably one of the greatest stock pickers of all time. But he does own one Vanguard ETF: the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO). It follows the S&P 500, a market-cap-weighted index of 500 of America's most prominent corporations.
Berkshire currently holds stakes in two of them: The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust. Both funds directly track the performance of the S&P 500 index, but the Vanguard ETF might be the better choice for you because of its low cost.
But not all of its equity positions are single stocks. Berkshire Hathaway owns two exchange-traded funds (ETF), The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO).
SPY has an expense ratio of 0.09%, which, while low, is still higher than that of VOO,'s 0.03%, one of the lowest expense ratios for S&P 500 ETFs. This makes VOO more cost-effective for long-term investors, as expense ratio differences compound over time and impact returns.
And Buffett knows it, too, as SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is one of Berkshire Hathaway's own holdings. "Buffett was a believer in investing in S&P 500 funds for their simplicity and low costs," said Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at TMX VettaFi.
The Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF performed better than the Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF in the last decade because it had even heavier exposure to the technology sector. Specifically, the index fund returned 367% during the last 10 years, compounding at 16.6% annually. That easily beats the 242% gain in the S&P 500.
Trust a Low-Cost Index Fund for Your Portfolio
For instance, Buffett urges the average investor to purchase index funds. “Put 10% of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund,” he wrote in his 2013 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.
There are 214 ETFs which contain Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.. All of these ETFs are listed in the table below. The ETF with the largest weighting of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. is the SPDR S&P US Financials Select Sector UCITS ETF.
Vanguard's long-term success in active fixed income starts with Vanguard's unique ownership structure. Vanguard is owned by its member funds, which in turn are owned by fund shareholders.
Apple. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has ranked as the largest holding in Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway portfolio for several years. The iPhone maker is still at the top early in the new year. Berkshire owns 300 million shares of Apple worth around $73.2 billion, representing 24.8% of its total holdings.
Freund has been Buffett's go-to broker for over 40 years, carrying out trades, offering research analysis, and making sure all legal requirements are met. Although Buffett's brilliance is in spotting cheap companies, Freund's skill at tactfully managing significant deals has enhanced Buffett's methodology.
But most investors ignore of his most prudent pieces of advice. "In my view, for most people, the best thing to do is to own the S&P 500 index fund," Buffett said at Berkshire's annual meeting 2021. He has often repeated that advice, and has specifically suggested the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO).
At age 60–69, consider a moderate portfolio (60% stock, 35% bonds, 5% cash/cash investments); 70–79, moderately conservative (40% stock, 50% bonds, 10% cash/cash investments); 80 and above, conservative (20% stock, 50% bonds, 30% cash/cash investments).
While your investing choices are personal, there's one option that comes highly recommended by billionaire investor Warren Buffett: The S&P 500 index fund. Here's why it's such a fantastic investment, and how you could earn hundreds of thousands of dollars while barely lifting a finger. Image source: The Motley Fool.
One of the biggest reasons Ramsey cautions investors about ETFs is that they are so easy to move in and out of. Unlike traditional mutual funds, which can only be bought or sold once per day, you can buy or sell an ETF on the open market just like an individual stock at any time the market is open.
The 90/10 rule in investing is a comment made by Warren Buffett regarding asset allocation. The rule stipulates investing 90% of one's investment capital toward low-cost stock-based index funds and the remainder 10% to short-term government bonds.