I'm a big fan of buy and hold investing and believe it is one of the best ways for investors to grow their wealth.
To demonstrate how successful it can be, every so often I like to pick out a number of popular ASX shares to see how much a single $20,000 investment 10 years ago would be worth today.
This time around I have picked out the three shares that are listed below:
Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL)
Although Blackmores has been out of form over the last few years, the health supplements company's shares have still been market beaters. This has been driven largely by the company's success in the China market, which for a number of years generated stellar sales and earnings growth. This has led to Blackmores shares providing investors with an average total return of 15.4% per annum. If you had invested $20,000 into its shares 10 years ago, it would be worth $83,800.
Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME)
The Pro Medicus share price has been a very strong performer over the last decade. It is a healthcare technology company which provides a full range of radiology IT software and services to hospitals, imaging centres, and health care groups worldwide. Thanks to the growing popularity of its revolutionary product suite, Pro Medicus has grown its earnings at a rapid rate over the last decade. This has unsurprisingly led to its shares smashing the market over the period with an impressive average total return of 41.4% per annum. This would have turned a $20,000 investment in April 2010 into a staggering $640,000 today.
ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)
Another strong performer over the last 10 years has been the ResMed share price. Thanks to the quality of its sleep treatment products, its fast-growing software business, and the rapidly growing sleep apnoea market, ResMed has grown its earnings at a very strong rate since 2010. This has resulted in its shares providing investors with an average total return of 21.7% per annum over the period. Which means that a $20,000 investment in ResMed's shares would now be worth $142,500.