Warren Buffett
Chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, 1970–2025
Most investors, of course, have not made the study of business prospects a priority in their lives. If wise, they will conclude that they do not know enough about specific businesses to predict their future earning power. I have good news for these non-professionals: The typical investor doesn't need this skill. ... The goal of the non-professional should not be to pick winners – neither he nor his "helpers" can do that – but should rather be to own a cross-section of businesses that in aggregate are bound to do well. A low-cost S&P 500 index fund will achieve this goal.
Recorded
Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder letter, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., 28 February 2014
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