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The shorter your investing time horizon, the more we think that you’re gambling with your investment money. A longer time horizon for building wealth allows more time for companies to work on your behalf as a shareholder. Here are a number of stocks that our free-site writers have bought and held for at least the past decade!
Amazon
What it does: Amazon is a global leader in online retail and marketplace for third party sellers. Its cloud computing platform Amazon Web Services provides data storage and AI services.
By Harshil Patel. I first bought Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares 12 years ago in 2013. And it’s one of my longest-serving holdings. Since then, it has risen by around 1200%.
I was inspired by Peter Lynch’s book One up on Wall Street. I used the concept of investing in what you know.
I was a subscriber to its Prime service and had learned that many more features were on the way. Its subscription service looked promising, and I was even prepared to pay a higher price.
Amazon was innovating and sales were growing. It was impossible to know how much of a success it would end up being. But it looked promising.
Today, it’s a more mature business. That said, it continues to grow sales and offer innovative solutions. But do I think it’s likely to rise by another 1200% over the coming 12 years? I doubt it.
With a market capitalisation of $1.8bn, it could struggle. That’s why I’m focussing on smaller companies today.
Harshil Patel owns shares in Amazon.
Diageo
What it does: Diageo manufactures some of the world’s most popular drinks brands like Smirnoff vodka and Captain Morgan rum.
By Royston Wild. Being a Diageo (LSE:DGE) shareholder has proved ‘a game of two halves’ for me, to use a well-worn football cliché.
A steadily growing dividend and rising share price gave me a solid return before 2020’s Covid emergency. Since then, Diageo shares have been up and down, and they’ve been locked in a sustained downturn since mid-2022.
As a consequence, the drinks giant’s provided a sub-par average annual return of 4% over the past decade. This is below the 6.5% that the broader FTSE 100 has delivered over that time.
Yet I haven’t been tempted to cut and run, at least yet. I’m confident that Diageo’s share price will rebound strongly when consumer spending power recovers, driven by its packed portfolio of leading brands.
The rise of ‘teetotalism’ in the West poses a threat to long-term revenues. Yet Diageo’s huge emerging market exposure provides exceptional profits opportunities that may help to offset this.
I’m also encouraged by Diageo’s successful foray into the non-alcoholic market. European sales of its Guinness 0.0 variant doubled in the six months to December. I’m sure it has more tricks up its sleeve to capitalise on this fast-growing segment.
Royston Wild owns shares in Diageo.
Lloyds Banking Group
What it does: Lloyds Banking Group is a UK retail bank and one of the country’s biggest mortgage lenders
By Alan Oscroft. I’ve held Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) shares for more than a decade. I’ve learned a lesson from that: it’s important to know when not to sell.
One of those times is after bad news has hit the share price, because it’s too late by then. Panic selling is almost never a winning strategy. I certainty wouldn’t sell just because Lloyds has fallen as a result of President Trump’s tariff war.
The biggest threat I see is the car loan mis-selling case, currently with the Supreme Court. Lloyds has set aside £1,150m to cover potential costs, bit it’s not clear if that will be enough.
The fear isn’t enough to make me want to sell, but I don’t want to buy more right now. On the bright side, I see forecasts that could drop the Lloyds price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio to only seven by 2027.
Will I hold Lloyds for another 10 years? Probably.
Alan Oscroft has positions in Lloyds Banking Group Plc.
