Comparing Portfolio to Warren Buffetts

You can take a peek at Warren Buffett's stock holdings via the SEC filings for Berkshire Hathaway. Sites like GuruFocus provide easy access to this information.

I thought I would take a look at what invesments in his portfolio I also have in my taxable investment portfolio - here is a partial list:

Investment	Berkshire’s Portfolio		2mil's Portfolio
Coca-Cola Co.	200,000,000	18%	0	0%
American Express Co.	151,610,700	17.12%	0	0%
Wells Fargo & Co.	190,641,600	13.89%	0	0%
Procter & Gamble Co.	100,000,000	12.48%	28	2.32%
Moody's Corp.	48,000,000	6.32%	0	0%
Wesco Financial Corp.	5,703,087	5.02%	0	0%
Anheuser-Busch	36,417,400	3.48%	101	5.91%
Johnson & Johnson	24,588,800	3.22%	8	0.72%
Washington Post Co.	1,727,765	2.56%	0	0%
ConocoPhillips	17,938,100	2.15%	0*	0%*
Wal-Mart	19,944,300	1.98%	0	0%
Ameriprise Financial	19,256,537	1.82%	0	0%
M&T Bank Corp.	6,708,760	1.62%	0	0%
USG Corp.	16,700,992	1.58%	18	1.26%
American Standard	11,062,700	0.94%	0	0%
Comcast CL A SPCL	11,110,200	0.82%	0	0%
Nike Inc.	4,000,000	0.71%	0	0%
Tyco International Ltd.	10,000,000	0.56%	0	0%
General Electric Co.	7,777,900	0.55%	83	3.83%
Costco Wholesale	5,254,000	0.53%	0	0%
Iron Mountain	9,047,850	0.51%	0	0%
SunTrust	3,204,600	0.49%	0	0%
H&R Block	10,971,000	0.47%	0	0%
First Data	10,000,000	0.45%	0	0%
Lowes	7,000,000	0.39%	44	1.74%
Gannett	3,447,600	0.39%	0	0%

*Pending investment in Connoco; The portfolio percentage is based on just my taxable investment holdings and doesn't include my retirement accounts. You can find more info on my current investment holdings here.

What is glaringly obvious when I look at this table is the lack of financial investments I have in my portfolio compared to Warren Buffets. American Express, Wells Fargo, Wesco Financial, Ameriprise, M&T Bank, SunTrust, First Data, Western Union, etc are all financial-related companies that Warren has interest in. I own nothing in this sector. Instead my portfolio has a much higher weightings in big pharmaceuticals (PFE, MRK) and technology (IBM).

Also here is a recent Moringstar article that also digs a bit into Warren Buffet's holdings.

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Comments (10)

Are you trying to emulate Buffett's portfolio, or is this just a "hmmm...I was wondering...." scenario?

I have been thinking of investing part of my Sharebuilder portfolio (or my rollover IRA) into some Berkshire B shares. I do think that there is room to run there - and without being able to currently cite chapter and verse, I know that I have read articles recently that preach the same idea.

Posted by The Travelin' Man | January 18, 2007 3:53 PM

Buffett would never hold positions in technology companies because he doesn't "understand" their business.

Posted by Ledger | January 18, 2007 10:02 PM

Get out of Lowes and into COSTCO (cost). Rumor has it that Buffet is going large on it this year and his right had man Charles Munger sits on its board of directors. Retail stock of 2007.

Posted by jtrader | January 19, 2007 12:55 AM

I wouldn't say Warren Buffett doesn't understand Technology companies, but yet technology companies change too much over time.

I've watched Warrent before give a 1 1/2 hour speech and one of the things he talked about was technology stocks. He said he wouldn't hold technology stocks because they do not have a fundamental business that is tried and true and does not dramatically change over time.

Then he sited an example of what he meant. He said, when you buy chewing gum or a company that produces chewing gum you know what you are getting. Chewing gum doesn't really change over time. It's a business that knows what it needs to do and it does it over time. It's a boring business but it churns out the same product year over year.

He sited the same example with Coca-Cola. He said Coke has the same test in the morning, afternoon or night. He says the taste of Coke never gets dull, and that's why people can drink many a day.

So it's not that he doesn't "understand" their business, it's more that technology companies don't understand their business, and it will be ever changing forever.

Posted by Ray | January 19, 2007 9:30 AM

just a bit of curiosity to see how our portfolios overlap.

Posted by 2 million | January 19, 2007 10:11 AM

thanks for the list. Even though it made me feel like a third world homeless dude.

Posted by Hustlermoneyblog | January 19, 2007 1:44 PM

Buffet doesn't own IBM for good reason, it's a loser of a company. Did you sell your shares before the drop today? If not then I guess you haven't ever looked at a chart. IBM always drops in January. Oh well, maybe next January you can sell your shares at $100. Just like you could have in 2002, 2004, or 2005. You seem like a smart enough guy but your investment in IBM is mind-boggling. Take some advice from Buffet and put your money somewhere else.

Posted by Anonymous | January 19, 2007 3:08 PM

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Posted by Juan | January 20, 2007 1:01 AM

It would be interesting to add a 1yr return to your table for each of those investments. Over the last year, I wonder whose picks from the list performed the best... (even though Buffet is the ultimate buy and hold investor)

http://retiringearly.blogspot.com

Posted by fin_indie | January 20, 2007 12:20 PM

I just posted a book review of Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor on my blog. Graham is one of two people who greatly influenced Warren Buffett. By looking at Graham's philosophies, you can see why Buffett selects many of the stocks he does.

Posted by Ledger | January 21, 2007 3:07 PM