Of course, I should not debate that it is possible to beat the market, but the question for an individual is, is the potential return over the relatively risk-less SP500 worth the risk? And the data for the past 14 years or so indicates that BRK’s edge may have decreased.
I write “relatively risk-less SP500” because on a sufficiently long timeline, I assume US federal government is bailing out SP500, or the US federal government has big problems (such as does not exist in the form it is in now).
https://dqydj.com/sp-500-return-calculator/
https://dqydj.com/stock-return-calculator/
Dec 2007 to Dec 2022 is 8.86% for SP500 vs 7.99% for BRK-B.
Dec 1997 is 7.7% for SP500 vs 10.57% for BRK-B.
BRK even provides this information by year in their annual report on page 2, and the all time record is BRK at 20% versus SP500 at 10%:
https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2021ltr.pdf?mod=ar...
Of course, I should not debate that it is possible to beat the market, but the question for an individual is, is the potential return over the relatively risk-less SP500 worth the risk? And the data for the past 14 years or so indicates that BRK’s edge may have decreased.
I write “relatively risk-less SP500” because on a sufficiently long timeline, I assume US federal government is bailing out SP500, or the US federal government has big problems (such as does not exist in the form it is in now).