With the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting coming up May 6, you may be wondering what mutual funds have holdings most closely resembling Warren Buffett’s portfolio.
To put that in quantitative terms, Morningstar first combined Berkshire’s list of the eight stocks in which it was the largest shareholder as of Dec. 31, 2022 and Berkshire’s list of its five largest stock holdings at year-end.
Four of those five stocks were repeats from the first list, so here are the distinguished nine:
American Express (AXP) (repeat)
Apple (AAPL) (second list)
Bank of America (BAC) (repeat)
Chevron (CVX) (repeat)
Coca-Cola (KO) (repeat)
HP (HPQ) (first list)
Moody’s (MCO) (first list)
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) (first list)
Paramount Global (PARA) (first list)
Then Morningstar created its roster of mutual funds with the largest weightings in those nine Buffett stocks. The research firm includes only funds with at least $1 billion in assets or a five-year track record.
And it includes only funds covered by Morningstar analysts. It excludes sector funds such as those focused on technology and financial services
So here are the top 10 funds. Each of them has beaten the median return for its Morningstar category over the past five years, “illustrating the value of holding the type of high-quality growth stocks that Buffett favors,” writes David Kathman, senior manager research analyst for Morningstar.
Here’s the Morningstar/Buffett top 10, in order of which fund has the highest weighting of Buffett stocks. Morningstar’s ratings go on a scale of gold, silver, neutral.
American Century Select (TWCAX). Weighting of fund assets in Buffett stocks: 14.19%. Percentile ranking for last five years in Morningstar’s large-growth category (the smaller number, the better): 20. Morningstar rating: neutral.
American Century Ultra (TWUAX). Weighting of fund assets in Buffett stocks: 14.01%. Percentile ranking for last five years in Morningstar’s large-growth category: 11. Morningstar rating: neutral.
Fidelity OTC (FOCPX). Weighting of fund assets in Buffett stocks: 13.29%. Percentile ranking for last five years in Morningstar’s large-growth category: 14. Morningstar rating: silver
Columbia Large Cap Growth V (GAEGX). Weighting of fund assets in Buffett stocks: 13.02%. Percentile ranking for last five years in Morningstar’s large-growth category: 44. Morningstar rating: neutral.
Akre Focus Retail (AKREX). Weighting of fund assets in Buffett stocks: 12.91%. Percentile ranking for last five years in Morningstar’s large-growth category: 29. Morningstar rating: bronze.
BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor (DGAGX). Weighting of fund assets in Buffett stocks: 12.86%. Percentile ranking for last five years in Morningstar’s large-growth category: 16. Morningstar rating: bronze.
Fidelity Growth Company (FDGRX). Weighting of fund assets in Buffett stocks: 12.54%. Percentile ranking for last five years in Morningstar’s large-growth category: 4. Morningstar rating: gold.
BNY Mellon Worldwide Growth (PGROX). Weighting of fund assets in Buffett stocks: 11.69%. Percentile ranking for last five years in Morningstar’s global-large-growth category: 2. Morningstar rating: bronze.
Putnam Core Equity (PMYAX). Weighting of fund assets in Buffett stocks: 11.19%. Percentile ranking for last five years in Morningstar’s large-blend category: 29. Morningstar rating: neutral.
JPMorgan US GARP Equity (JIGAX). Weighting of fund assets in Buffett stocks: 10.77%. Percentile ranking for last five years in Morningstar’s large-growth category: 41. Morningstar rating: neutral.
The author of this story owns shares of Fidelity Growth Company.
