in our free newsletter.

Thousands benefit from our email every week.

Apple (AAPL)

Apple products
ios1306 / Shutterstock.com

Apple is by far Buffett’s largest holding, accounting for more than 40% of Berkshire’s portfolio by market value.

One of the reasons behind that concentration is the sheer increase in the tech giant’s stock price. Over the past five years, Apple shares have surged more than 480%.

Earlier this year, management revealed that the company’s active installed base of hardware has surpassed 1.65 billion devices, including over 1 billion iPhones. But the company does more than just making smartphones and computers; it has built an ecosystem.

While competitors offer cheaper devices, many consumers don’t want to live outside Apple’s network of highly compatible products and services. That means, as inflation spikes, Apple can pass higher costs to its global consumer base without worrying as much about a drop in sales volume.

The business has been growing at a commendable pace. In the September quarter, revenue surged 29% year-over-year to $83.4 billion.

After a multi-year bull run, Apple trades at $165 per share. But you can always get a smaller piece of the company using a popular app that allows you to buy fractions of shares with as much money as you are willing to spend.

Fine wine is a sweet comfort in any situation — and now it can make your investment portfolio a little more comfortable, too. Now a platform called Vinovest helps everyday buyers invest in fine wines — no sommelier certification required.

Invest Now

Bank of America (BAC)

Bank of America sign
Tero Vesalainen / Shutterstock

As the second-largest holding in Berkshire’s portfolio, Bank of America has served Buffett quite well.

The stock is up 49% year to date — not bad for a traditional blue-chip company outside the tech sector.

While Bank of America doesn’t produce goods in the same way Apple does, its important role in our financial system gives the stock inherent value.

Bank of America offers a wide range of banking, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services to consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations.

And while many businesses fear rising interest rates, banks love them. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that in today’s environment, banks can return a lot of cash to shareholders.

Bank of America bought back $9.9 billion of its common stock in Q3. In June, the company raised its quarterly dividend rate by 17% to 21 cents per share.

At the current share price, the bank offers an annual dividend yield of 1.9%.

American Express (AXP)

American Express card
Colin Hui / Shutterstock

American Express shares are up a solid 36% year to date, though in the past month, they’ve pulled back around 10%.

Berkshire owns 151.6 million shares of the company, worth approximately $24.5 billion. That makes the credit-card giant its third-largest holding.

Just like Bank of America, American Express provides an essential service. While Bitcoin’s use as currency is still quite limited, Amex’s payment products and services cater to a broad range of consumers and small and large businesses.

And the business is commonly considered inflation-proof. American Express makes most of its money through discount fees; merchants are charged a percentage of every Amex card transaction. As the price of goods and services increases, the company gets to take a cut of larger bills.

In Q3, the company’s revenue jumped 25% year-over-year to $10.9 billion.

Berkshire also owns shares of competitors Visa and Mastercard, but Buffett is clearly betting on American Express as those other two positions are much smaller.

If you don’t want to pick winner and losers yourself, you can always build a diversified portfolio automatically just by using your “spare change.”

Fine wine is a sweet comfort in any situation — and now it can make your investment portfolio a little more comfortable, too. Now a platform called Vinovest helps everyday buyers invest in fine wines — no sommelier certification required.

Invest Now

Earn a passive income outside of stocks

Yacht
freevideophotoagency/Shutterstock

Buffett argues that because Bitcoin doesn’t produce anything, investors are “just hoping the next guy pays more” for their inherently worthless asset.

On the other hand, if an asset can offer material, ongoing value, investors won’t be so stressed about their ability to offload it.

And as it turns out, the majority of Berkshire’s holdings are companies that pay regular cash dividends — a great source of passive income. But you don’t have to limit yourself to the stock market.

These days, retail investors have access to a variety of alternative investments, many of which offer impressive cash income. Traditionally, these opportunities have been available only to the ultra rich, like Buffett.

Now, with the help of new platforms, a single investment can build a fixed-income portfolio spread across multiple asset classes.

Get a piece of commercial real estate

Enhance your portfolio with high-return commercial real estate

First National Realty Partners is the #1 option for accredited investors seeking superior risk-adjusted returns in the grocery-anchored necessity-based retail space.

While commercial real estate has always been reserved for a few elite investors, outperforming the S&P 500 over a 25-year period, First National Realty Partners allows you to access institutional-quality commercial real estate investments — without the leg work of finding deals yourself.

Invest with First National Realty Partners now.

What to Read Next

Disclaimer

The content provided on Moneywise is information to help users become financially literate. It is neither tax nor legal advice, is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy. Tax, investment and all other decisions should be made, as appropriate, only with guidance from a qualified professional. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, either express or implied, with respect to the data provided, the timeliness thereof, the results to be obtained by the use thereof or any other matter.