How to invest like Warren Buffett (and other super investors)

We take a look at the latest hot picks and cold cuts among the super investors…by Jo Groves

 

Warren Buffett. Howard Marks. Peter Lynch. These legendary investors have navigated decades of booms, busts and bubbles (and more dubious acronyms than most of us care to remember). Through it all, they’ve beaten the odds (and the index) to earn their place in the ultimate investing hall of fame.

While recent market turmoil may have tested even the most phlegmatic of investors, patience remains the super investors’ not-so-secret weapon. As Charlie Munger wryly noted, “The big money is not in the buying or the selling but in the waiting.”

So what have the super investors been buying and selling during the latest market gyrations? Well, the good news is that you don’t have to hang around Starbucks in Omaha hoping to accost the newly-retired “Sage” when all is revealed in their quarterly 13F filings…

 

What’s a super investor?

 

Super investors are a rare breed who manage to consistently outperform the market (and even squeeze in 18 holes at Pebble Beach between trades). Entrusted with billions of dollars, their every move is scrutinised by a loyal army of investors hoping that a little stardust will rub off on their portfolios.

Their secret? Not a crystal ball or hotline to the next Wolf of Wall Street but good old-fashioned fundamentals: buying high-quality businesses at attractive valuations and sticking with them, sometimes for decades.

So who makes the cut? Alongside Buffett, there’s Bill Gates (via his foundation) and Nelson Peltz (CEO of Trian or Brooklyn Beckham’s father-in-law depending on whether you’re an avid reader of The FT or The Daily Mail).

Then there’s the hedgies Bill Ackman and Michael Burry and finally, flying the flag for the Brits, Terry Smith of Fundsmith fame alongside Nick Train and Michael Lindsell.

 

The most popular stocks with super investors

 

It’s worth saying at the outset that our list of super investors’ holdings tilts towards US large-caps as 13F filings only cover US-listed equities.

But without further ado, these are the 10 most widely-held stocks among the super investors according to Dataroma:

 

 

 

 

Topping the list is Microsoft (MSFT) with an impressive 35 super investors holding a stake in the $3 trillion technology behemoth. No great surprise that it accounts for more than a quarter of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust but TCI’s Chris Hohn and Fundsmith’s Terry Smith are also big fans.

Next on the list is fellow Magnificent Seveners Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta (META) and Amazon (AMZN). Apple (AAPL) brings up the rear but there’s no room at the inn for NVIDIA (NVDA) or Tesla (TSLA).

Outside technology, the super investors placed their chips on Visa (V) and Capital One (COF) from the financial services sector, alongside Warren Buffett’s own Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) and healthcare giant United Health (UNH).

Drilling down into the portfolio of the most famous super investor of all, Warren Buffet has allocated a quarter of his portfolio to Apple, followed by American Express (AXP), Coca Cola (KO) and Bank of America (BAC).

Meanwhile, Scion’s Michael Burry (famous for calling the 2008 housing crash and inspiring “The Big Short”) sold out his entire portfolio in the first quarter bar one stock. He’s offloaded his bold contrarian value plays on battered Chinese tech names Alibaba (BABA), Baidu (BIDU) and JD.com (JD) and staked it all on beauty powerhouse Estee Lauder (EL) for smoother returns (and smoother skin?).
Nelson Peltz is another super investor who doesn’t shy away from backing his highest conviction ideas, with 80% invested in just four companies, Janus Henderson (JHG), GE Aerospace (GE), health-care spin-off Solventum (SOLV) and Wendy’s (WEN).

 

 

What stocks are the super investors buying now?

 

 

Warren Buffett’s ideal holding period may be “forever” but recent filings reveal some interesting purchases by the tribe of super investors. These were the top 10 most-bought shares in the first quarter of 2025:

 

 

 

The super investors continued to load up on high-quality growth companies with defensive moats to weather choppier economic waters. The Magnificent Seven dominated buy lists across the board, with super investors snapping up all but Tesla and Apple as valuations dipped.

Microsoft (MSFT) once again led the charge, riding high on the back of Azure’s dominant position in the cloud computing space, second only to Amazon (AZN) on the global stage.

Meta Platforms (META) also curried favour on the back of better-than-expected sales and aggressive cost-cutting dropping into the bottom line, alongside upside potential from digital ad spending and monetising AI investments.

The super investors also hopped on the AI bandwagon, taking the opportunity to snaffle semiconductor giants NVIDIA (NVID) and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) on the dip. They were joined by the slightly less glamorous duo of analogue chip maker Texas Instruments (TXN) and logistics provider WESCO International (WCC).

True to form, Buffett forged his own path, adding to his holdings in Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), Pool Corp (POOL) and SiriusXM (SIRI). Either he’s planning a blow-out retirement bash to outshine Jeff Bezos’ Venice nuptials or he’s quietly betting on the overlooked consumer discretionary sector to break free from the clouds of doom.

How to copy the super investors

 

The Route One approach is to copy the latest trades of the super investors but timing is everything (and that’s before we get to the danger of putting all of your eggs in the US large-cap basket).

A simpler option is to invest directly in a super investor’s portfolio, such as Warren Buffet’s investment company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK). While A shares trade on a par with a garage in Chelsea at an eye-watering $770,000, B shares are a rather more affordable $500. Alternatively, Pershing Square Holdings (PSH) provides exposure to Bill Ackman’s focused, high-conviction picks of undervalued US equities.

And what about the UK super investors making the cut? Well, the Smithson Investment Trust (SSON) aims to emulate Terry Smith’s high-quality Fundsmith strategy in a closed-end structure. Or Finsbury Growth & Income (FGT) and Lindsell Train (LTI) allow investors to piggyback on Nick Train and Michael Lindsell’s investment expertise.

 

(Do) try this at home…

 

It seems fitting the final word goes to the king of the super investors, Warren Buffett, who once quipped that the stock market “is designed to transfer money from the active to the patient.”

Above all, it’s this patience that sets the super investors apart. While others try to chase the next big thing, they quietly enjoy the fruits of…well, doing very little but watching the returns roll in.

All data as at 19/05/2025 unless stated otherwise.

 

 

 

Disclaimer

This is not substantive investment research or a research recommendation, as it does not constitute substantive research or analysis. This material should be considered as general market commentary.