Peter Lynch, a legendary investor, has one of the best investment records, yet he still regrets not buying or investing in some of the biggest innovative startups in recent years.
On Tuesday, Fidelity Magellan, the former fund manager, revealed that he wished he wouldn’t have missed out on the explosive growth in high-tech companies like Apple.
“Apple was not that hard to understand. I mean, how dumb was I?” Lynch, vice chairman of Fidelity Management & Research, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Also, Apple has a “nice balance sheet. I should have done some work on Apple … it’s not a complicated company,” he added.
Further, Lynch recalled how his daughter had bought an iPod for $250 at the time and how he recounted thinking Apple was making a high margin on it. Yet he didn’t buy the stock.
Lynch, aged 79, acknowledged that Warren Buffett saw Apple’s potential and capitalised on it. The “Oracle of Omaha” had been flying away from tech stocks for decades, asserting they were outside of his expertise. But under the effect of his investing deputy, he bought into Apple in 2016 and made it the single biggest holding in his portfolio.
Moreover, the tech giant flared out to be one of the most successful bets in Buffett’s career, which gained him more than $100 billion on paper in just a couple of years. Buffett still views Apple as a public-oriented product company for its strong brand effect and loyal customer base.
Aside from Apple, Lynch voiced regret for not investing in chip firm Nvidia, which has been one of the greatest winners in the semiconductor business in recent years and a major enabler of artificial intelligence.
“Nvidia has been a huge stock; I wish I could pronounce it,” Lynch joked.
Further, Lynch rose to prominence as the manager of Fidelity’s Magellan Fund from 1977 until 1990. Under his 13-year management, the fund gained an annualised return of 29.2%, which is consistently more than doubling the S&P 500′s performance.
Also, during his tenure, he increased Magellan’s assets under management from $20 million to $14 billion.
However, the outstanding record made Lynch a renowned figure on Wall Street, and he later wrote investment books, which also includes “One Up on Wall Street.”
- Published By Team Genuine Reporter