Everyone knows that Warren Buffett is one of the greatest living investors. Not for nothing is the guy known as the "Oracle of Omaha." Thing is, while shares of his Berkshire Hathaway holding company look relatively cheap in terms of their price multiples, ponying up the entrance fee might be a stretch: Berkshire's A shares (BRKa) currently go for around $94,000 a pop, while the B shares (BRKb) will set you back more than $3,100.
Buffett
groupies
The good news is that you can get access to Buffett and his portfolio of subsidiaries and equity holdings for smaller sums. How so? Via mutual funds that hold Berkshire shares in their portfolios.
FMI Large Cap (FMIHX), for example, recently had nearly 8% of its assets plunked down on Berkshire Bs. The fund rounds out its portfolio with the likes of Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S), Tyco (NYSE:TYC), and TJX (NYSE:TJX) and sports an initial investment minimum of just $1,000. Oak Value (OAKVX), meanwhile, runs with a Berkshire slug that weighs in at around 5% of assets and, if you invest via an IRA, has a $1,000 minimum. Buy shares of this puppy, and in addition to Berkshire, you'll be investing in long-haul overachievers like Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) and Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL).
What's that? Those funds don't provide quite enough Buffett for you? Not to worry: In the September issue of Motley Fool Champion Funds, we revisited the investment case for a fund -- my favorite of the Buffett boys -- that packs more than 16% of its assets into Berkshire Hathaway. And yep, it too can be had (via an IRA) for a mere $1,000. Other holdings here include EchoStar Communications (NASDAQ:DISH) and Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK), a pair of picks with price-to-earnings ratios that fall significantly below those of their typical industry rivals.
In the interest of protecting value for our members, we tend to play our newsletter's recommendations close to the vest. But if you want the inside scoop on this pick and all our others, no problem: Just click here for a free 30-day guest pass.
Fund your future
In the meantime, add "access" to the list of winning traits that make investing in a world-class portfolio of mutual funds a great way to begin -- and continue -- your career as an investor. In addition to the likes of Berkshire, funds also open the door to areas of the market that might lie outside your circle of investing competence.
If you're looking to dial up your exposure to, say, equities plucked from the world's developing economies or even those in your own backyard that hail from industries you don't fully understand -- biotech, anyone? How 'bout nanotech? -- terrific funds helmed by stock pickers who do understand them can be had -- provided you know where (and how) to look.
Pricey picks with green managers are musts-to-avoid, for example, as are most funds that pack tons of assets into narrow areas of the market. Quick and easy diversification, after all, is another built-in advantage of well-chosen mutual funds.
The Foolish bottom line
Choosing well is what we strive to do each month at Champion Funds -- and so far, so good. Our list o' picks is up on the market by roughly 8 percentage points since we opened for business back in March 2004, and our model portfolios are besting their benchmarks, too.
That free 30-day guest pass I mentioned is just a mouse-click away, and you can use it to rummage through our archives, fund recommendations, and our members-only discussion boards, too. There's no obligation to stick around if you find it isn't for you, so go ahead and give Champion Funds a whirl. A world of market-beating stocks that you might not otherwise invest in awaits.
This article was originally published on Aug. 15, 2006. It has been updated.
At the time of publication, Shannon Zimmerman didn't own any of the securities mentioned above. Tyco is an Inside Value recommendation. Duke Energy is an Income Investor choice. You can check out the Fool's strict disclosure policy by clicking righthere.
