I'm a big advocate of buy and hold investing and believe it is one of the best ways to grow your wealth over the long term.
To demonstrate how successful it can be, ever so often I will pick out a number of popular ASX shares to see how much a single $20,000 investment ten years ago would be worth today.
This time around I have picked out the following shares:
Although the underperformance of its Australian leisure business means the Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price has fallen 29% over the last 12 months, the travel agent giant's shares have still provided an average annual return of 19.5% over the last 10 years. This would have turned a $20,000 investment in Flight Centre into ~$119,000.
Investors that bought Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN) shares 10 years ago will be very pleased with how they have travelled over the period. During this time the infection control specialist's shares have provided an average return of 26.2% per annum thanks to the increasing popularity of its industry-leading trophon EPR ultrasound probe disinfection system. This means that a $20,000 investment 10 years ago would now be worth ~$205,000.
Often you'll be told that you can't generate market-beating returns over the long term from the gold miners. But if you can find a small miner with the potential to grow materially in the future, then this certainly can happen. A prime example of this is Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST). Over the last decade the gold miner has generated an incredible average annual return of 88.3%. This means an admittedly brave $20,000 investment in its shares a decade ago would be now worth an impressive $11.2 million.
The Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) share price has been a standout performer on the Australian share market over the last decade due to the success of the leading imaging IT provider's software. Over the period the company's shares have generated a market-beating average return of 42.3% per annum. This would have turned a $20,000 investment into ~$680,000 today.
