October 6th, 2010 by John Doherty
Stock investments are superior to investment in bonds, despite the general view that bonds investments are relatively low-risk, according to the world’s most successful investor, Warren Buffett.
Speaking at a conference for top US businesswomen organised by Fortune magazine, Buffett said of stocks investments: “It’s quite clear that stocks are cheaper than bonds. I can’t imagine anyone having bonds in their portfolio when they can have equities.”
For the world’s 3rd-richest man, with a personal net worth estimated at $47 billion in March 2010, low-risk investments may no longer be necessary – but even for the ordinary investor prepared to put their money away for a decade or two, the arguments for stocks and shares investments are what Buffett might call a ‘no-brainer’.
By charting the performance of a long-term investment in stocks and shares made in 1945, figures released recently by Scottish Widows shows that returns over a 60-year term were 70 times greater than investing the same sum as cash in a bank or building society account.
A sum of £100 invested in a building society account in 1945 would have been worth just £1,767 by 2006, according to Scottish Widows. Invested in bonds, the sum would have been worth £4,323.
However, the same £100 invested in the UK stock markets, as measured by the Barclays Equity Index and including dividends reinvested, would have grown to £125,243 over the same time period.
While bonds may be attractive for an investment of 5-10 years, as you are told in advance what your minimum return will be, stocks and shares investments are the clear winner in the longer term.
Warren Buffett’s investment activities are carried on through his investment company Berkshire Hathaway, which has been voted the world’s most respected company by the leading US business publication Barron’s Magazine.
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