I mainly invest in index funds (with a handful of single stocks)
Recently I did a little experiment with two funds Bill Gates (or the Foundation) own.
Waste Management
Pfizer
Not with much money (I’m not totally daft/crazy and I’d never experiment with more than I’m comfortable with, if I lost 100% of what I invested in the two I’d not loose any sleep)
Both are doing well though with decent potential upsides - got me to thinking….is it a common thing in the “stocks and shares world” to focus on one person who’s clearly at the top of their game and follow their journey? Instead of complicating things by following too many people?
Is it a dangerous move?
Is it a naive move?
Curiously intrigued into others personal opinions…
Again I’m NOT risking much by this experiment at all and would not be affected if Waste Management or Pfizer were to plummet tomorrow
Seems like not a bad idea. Both companies are involved with researching means to profitably resolve issues we have today. The fact they are backed by deep pockets, should also be seen in a good light.
The question I think is of how high can they go and what is an attractive entry price?
I think with Pfizer it’s more of let’s see what winter brings as I think a lot has been already factored in in regards to SP.
With Waste Management though I’m really not sure. It’s a consistently steady climber. Think I’ll just leave it and see what the next 6 months does to it.
I’ve had Caterpillar for a while too another Gates stock (been fairly consistent too)
Who knows there maybe method in the madness. Time will tell
Yes it is, but these "one person"s usually own a big set of stocks and their aims are not “going to the moon this year” but sustained growth over mid to long term. So buying one/two/three stocks and checking back how they are doing does not necessarily reflect these one persons opinions.
On the same matter, I don’t think that one person is “bill gates”
A disclaimer before next section: This is not my strategy and I don’t own a single BRK(A/B) share
One of the best one person’s at the moment is Berkshire(I intentionally did not say Warren Buffett), I’m linking to a very very long article about, What is Berkshire? Is it ok to be overweight with BRK? How is it governed and what if Warren Buffett dies? What is the advantage/disadvantage about buying BRK as opposed to an index fund.
I recommend reading this for two reasons: (I know it’s long, may be bookmark and read in 3-4 goes?:)
You can decide if you want to buy and hold a big portion of your portfolio as BRK
Even if you have no intention to buy BRK this is a good learning exercise. Read the article and take a note of “what questions are asked by the author, and what are some concerns?” When making a judgement call like your original question following that “one person” You should be doing a similar research done in this article, and you should be able to answer some of the bullet points in this article yourself, to do an informed decision.
Ah cheers for that information. Will take me some time to digest it but once I do I’ll definitely get back to you. Have you read it and it’s changed your strategies?
It could funnily enough take me on a journey in regards to my council pension or investing in a long hold instead (my line of sight currently adding the same to my steadily growing S&P 500)
This could change the course. Once read it could determine my answer
PS it’s good to know it’s a common (ish) path in the “copying” sense as I wasn’t sure if I had come to the conclusion naively (being only in the stock market for 18 months now)
Haha, personally can’t stand Gates but this experiment randomly lead me to him and namely waste management above Pfizer really. Just thought there has to be something going on in the “elitist circle” that as a mere worker I could try and mirror. So far the mirroring isn’t displeasing me
Around half way through it so far and it’s very interesting.
Berkshire was one of my first ever buys and remains around 7% or my portfolio, and like the article refers to it’s also something I’ll probably never sell and add too over time.
Glad you found it useful, like I said it is very well written. and you may agree or disagree with the findings of the author but it is like a tutorial for those who want to spend a “significant” part of their portfolio on an instrument.
“Share X is the future, and here I made a video saying share X is the future” is more common these days
I did read it, and please read what I wrote about it I said I’m not owning investing in RRK, but this is a good learning exercise about how to assess an investment instrument, if you are planning to dedicate some of your wealth on it
Happens to me an awful lot too! Yet everything I hold flops the other darn way which is exactly why I’m better at ETF’s and long holds - except fomo kicks in and I do things like this “experiment”
