US markets were flat overnight with no major trade or economic indicators forcing investors hands one way or another.
- S&P 500 = +0.4%
- Nasdaq = -0.2%
- Aussie dollar down 0.3% to 64.07US cents
- Iron down 0.3% to $101.50 US a tonne
Youth is wasted on the young
I was speaking with an investor yesterday. He’s going in for laser eye surgery. He said after forty his long-sighted vision just started to go blurry. I’ll be turning 40 this year and we were talking about all the ailments that creep up on you.
We even both said, almost at the same time, that we think about the saying “youth is wasted on the young” regularly. Today I read Buffett didn’t start feeling old until 90…50 years later!
Warren Buffett spoke with the Wall Street Journal about his decision to step down, he said it wasn’t until he was 90 that he started to feel he was getting old. It took him longer to read the paper, felt unsteady at times with his balance and occasionally had trouble recalling names.
At 94 Buffett is stepping down from his role at Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK. A)(NYSE: BRK.B). I don’t often look at BRK the actual company. Take a guess at what the price for the A shares are? My partner this morning was well off, her first guess was $10,000. It hasn’t been $10K since 1992. Today, the A shares trade at $759,100 a share. What has been achieved is truly astonishing.
Of course, Buffett will continue to head into the office and will remain chairman, he can’t not. As David Senra from the Founders Podcast said, you don’t work your whole life to do what you love not to do it.
The best time to plant a tree
During this chat with an investor we spoke about how much time we must have had prior to having kids and what the hell did we actually do with it! If only we had carved off a little bit more of our going out money and plonked it into the market etc.
These reflections are incredibly common with the people I speak with, “if only we knew then what we do now”. The lament is of missed opportunity and that now is “too late”.
What would 94 year old Warren say?
His most lucrative investment ever came in the form of Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) when he was just a wee lad of 86.
If you fall into this category, stop thinking about what you have missed and think about what you have to gain. An investment in an ETF such as iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) or Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ) will get you exposure to Berkshire and Apple and more.
An old Chinese proverb I find myself saying often is, “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is today”.
Native seedlings
If you are thinking, who are the Berkshire’s of the ASX you have to remember, Berkshire and Warren are one of a kind. Not even once in a generation.
Looking at our local capital allocators – companies who invest their own balance sheet into other businesses and either own 100% or a significant amount of those companies – here are three that immediately come to mind:
- Washington H Soul Pattinson & Co Ltd (ASX: SOL): We’ve spoken with and about the Sol Patt’s team and process extensively here at the Rask Group. We’ve interviewed Chairman Rob Millner and CEO Todd Barlow a number of times. It’s a diversified investment company with holdings across public and private Australian companies as well as private credit, debt and property. They’re shrewd investors with true long-term thinking ingrained in their DNA. SOLs has been operating for over 100 years.
- SGH LTD (ASX: SGH): Recently rebranded from Seven Group Holdings, SGH has been a little under the radar compared to SOLs. Under the stewardship of Ryan Stokes, SGH has built a diversified portfolio across industrial services, energy and media. The company comprises of WesTrac (100% ownership), Coates (100% ownership), Boral (100% ownership), Beach Energy (30% ownership) and Seven West Media (40% ownership).
- Gowing Bros Limited (ASX: GOW): Far smaller than the above mentioned two, GOW was formed in 1868 to manage the Gowing family wealth this ASX listed diversified investment company is still family-led today with John Gowing at the helm. You may be familiar with the Gowing building on the corner of Market and George Street in Sydney’s CBD. Once a retail focused business, GOW is diversified across a range of property development, investment properties, listed companies and private credit.
As always, if you want to chat further you can reach me via the chat function in the right hand corner, jump on the Rask Community or contact me over on Rask Invest.
