Why Does Buffet Recommend VOO

[HighLonesome]

and not VTI? Curious why he prefers the S&P and not the total market. Thoughts?

[Makefile]

The closest mention is this quote from 2003 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aELZIFfoCf4)

"...just pick out a very broad index--and I would probably use the S&P 500--I think if you start getting beyond that you're starting to think you should be in small-caps this time and large-caps this time, or this--foreign stock, and as soon as you do that you're in a game you don't know, you're not equipped to play."

Doesn't seem like he's explicitly saying not to use the total market--what could be a more "very broad index"--but definitely not a fan of slice-and-dice.

[Glawen]

Sound like the main gist of that statement is 1. Keep it simple stupid, and 2. Don't continually fiddle with your allocations.

The sentiment there is perfectly compatible with a target date fund, or with a 3 (over even 4) fund portfolio.

I'm definately guilty of violating both of thise rules

[enad]

• It's Hard to beat,

• It's Low Cost,

• It's Diversified

Read more here: Warren Buffett: S&P 500 Index Fund Is the Best Option for Most Investors — Here’s Why

[simplesimon]

Has he ever said he prefers it over a total stock market fund?

My guess is it's because the SP500 index fund has been around since 1976 (WB age 46) so he's used to making that recommendation. Total Stock Market came almost 20 years later in 1992 (WB age 62) and does not make a meaningful difference in return. You can compare VOO vs VTI performance to see that this is the case.

[steadyosmosis]

and not VTI? Curious why he prefers the S&P and not the total market. Thoughts?

It's in the annual letters to shareholders.

[HRG]

Last quarter of 2024 Warren Buffett has sold all holdings in VOO and SPY.

[Beensabu]

Because he said something one time, and now it's part of his image and he's stuck with it.

[toddthebod]

and not VTI? Curious why he prefers the S&P and not the total market. Thoughts?

What's the difference?

[enad]

Last quarter of 2024 Warren Buffett has sold all holdings in VOO and SPY.

In Why Did Warren Buffett Just Sell Investments He's Recommended Millions of Others Buy? , the authors suggest several reasons, but conclude:

Most likely reason

So why did Buffett sell the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF? We don't know for sure. But the most likely reason is that he and his investment managers were doing a little clean-up of Berkshire's portfolio.

These two S&P 500 index funds were very small positions for Berkshire. The conglomerate owned 43,000 shares of the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF worth roughly $22.7 million at the end of the third quarter of 2024. Its stake in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust was even smaller -- 39,400 shares valued at $22.6 million at the end of Q3. Most of Berkshire's holdings are valued in the hundreds of millions or billions of dollars.

Buffett and his two investment managers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, have exited small positions in the past as part of similar portfolio clean-ups. The rationale behind these moves is that it doesn't make sense to have money tied up in holdings that aren't significant enough to move the needle much.

[arcticpineapplecorp.]

because VOO is easier to pronounce than VTI?

[Bama12]

Didn't Buffet just sale all of his VOO?

[Kbg]

No idea why, but VTI has a lot of crap stocks in it.

[Nicolas]

Because the unwashed masses wouldn’t understand VTI, but they would VOO.

There has been previous discussion here on this topic: viewtopic.php?t=152156

[dkturner]

Because the unwashed masses wouldn’t understand VTI, but they would VOO.

There has been previous discussion here on this topic: viewtopic.php?t=152156

Right, and VTI contains a lot of crappy stocks (which would be hard to explain to anyone, other than an intellectual) that the S&P 500 allocation committee would show the door to during its periodic purges of the index.

[snic]

because VOO is easier to pronounce than VTI?

I dunno. VEETEE is not that hard. VOO is too woo-woo for me.

[HighLonesome]

Didn't Buffet just sale all of his VOO?

Did he also change his recommendation to buy VOO?

[rufflesinc]

is he going to finally buy VOO with his $300billion cash hoard

[hnd]

the return difference is negligible and the masses understand the sp500.

regarding him selling, he's often mentioned they clean up their portfolios from time to time. my guess is holding .005% of their portfolio in VOO did very little for them overall. probably created more paperwork than anything.

[LadyGeek]

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