The Impact of Index Investing: A Follow-Up
I was at the Berkshire meeting this past weekend, and Buffett gave a nice (if simplified) explanation of investing in index funds over active investment, as it pertains to hedge funds, hiring analysts, etc.<p>An excerpt from the transcript [0] follows:<p>What I’d like you to do is for a moment, imagine that in this room, you people own all of America. All the stocks in America are owned by this group. You are the Berkshire 18,000 (or whatever it is) that have somehow managed to accumulate all the wealth in the country. Let’s assume we just divide it down the middle. On one side, we put half the people…half of all the investment capital in the world, and that capital is what a certain presidential candidate might call ‘low energy’. In fact, they have no energy at all. They buy half of everything that exists in the investment world – 50 percent – everyone on this side. Now half of it is owned by these ‘low energy’ people. They don’t look at stock prices. They don’t turn on business channels. They don’t read the Wall Street Journal. They don’t do anything. They are a slovenly group that just sits for year after year, owning half of America’s business. What’s the result going to be? The result is going to be exactly average as all American business does because they own half of all of it. They have no expenses – nothing.<p>What’s going to happen with the other half? The other half are what we call the ‘hyperactives’. The hyperactives’ gross result is also going to be half, right? The whole has to be the sum of the parts. This group, by definition, can’t change from its half of the ultimate investment results. This half is going to have the same gross results. They’re going to have the same results as the ‘no energy’ people but they’re also going to have terrific expenses because they’re all going to be moving around, hiring hedge funds, hiring consultants, and paying lots of commissions, et cetera. As a group, that half has to do worse than this half does. The people who don’t do anything have to do better than the people that are trying to do better. It’s simple.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.biznews.com&#x2F;global-investing&#x2F;2016&#x2F;05&#x2F;02&#x2F;berkshire-agm-transcribed-buffett-rips-into-active-fund-managers&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.biznews.com&#x2F;global-investing&#x2F;2016&#x2F;05&#x2F;02&#x2F;berkshir...</a>