Investing Like a Pro Is Easier and Cheaper Than You Think

Like many others, he wanted to build a long-term portfolio mimicking that of a successful fund but without paying all the fees, such as the expense ratios typically associated with most funds. On top of that, he didn’t want to start a 401K or IRA because he wanted the option to withdraw the money, if needed, at anytime without enduring any tax penalties.
Well, after talking to him for about an hour, I realized that the advice provided could actually help others in similar situations. In fact, many novice investors want to invest like a pro but lack the knowledge, experience, and know-how to do so effectively. But that minor setback shouldn’t stop them from turning their portfolio into a successful fund.
Rather than doing multiple calculations and trending daily charts to determine the best stocks for your portfolio, I have one simple investing hack – copy your favorite fund(s). Why not? All the information for most successful funds is readily available for anyone to view on Yahoo Finance or at any other brokerage firm.
You can do a bit of research online and select stocks based on your favorite fund(s) “Top 10 Holdings” to put into your own personal portfolio and periodically check the fund to make sure that nothing’s changed. If the fund has changed their holdings, it usually means that the fund manager(s) noted something alarming that led to those changes and you should do more research to find out why before making the same changes to your own portfolio.
By imitating successful funds, you let the pros do what they do best and you don’t have to pay the fees that are usually associated with owning those funds. The only expenses that you’ll actually pay will be trade commissions, which are minute compared to the ongoing costs of owning a fund, especially since most brokerage fees for each trade is usually under $8.
In addition to this, my friend also wanted to know what billionaires invested in. I informed him that you could also use the same strategy highlighted above and track the Direxion iBillionaire Index ETF (IBLN) to see what the top holdings are for billionaires, such as Warren Buffett, David Einhorn, Daniel Loeb, George Soros, Carl Icahn, and more.
Because the SEC requires 13-F filings to monitor the equity portfolios of billionaire investors, we have the added benefit of knowing what they invest in and the option to follow those same investments if we choose to. Note that the information on the filings will be a bit outdated because it becomes public within 45 days of the previous quarter but I wouldn’t be too concerned with this since most billionaires invest for the long-term.
Of course, all investing comes with it’s own risks. But we can limit those risks by following seasoned investors and by minimizing the fees and expenses so that our profits can grow exponentially.