I'm a big fan of buy and hold investing and believe it is the best way for investors to grow their wealth. To demonstrate how successful it can be, 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.
On this occasion, I have picked out the three ASX shares that are listed below:
Codan Limited (ASX: CDA)
This electronic product company's shares have been a great place to invest your money over the last decade. This has particularly been the case over the last five years thanks to the surging gold price and its industry leading metal and gold detectors. Sales have been growing very strongly for its Minelab business, underpinning stellar earnings and dividend growth. Positively, this is continuing in FY 2021 and is being bolstered further by a series of acquisitions. These acquisitions are diversifying its offering, which could prove very important when the gold price eventually weakens and demand for detectors softens. For now, over the last 10 years, Codan's shares have generated an average total return of 28.3% per annum. This would have turned a $20,000 investment into $242,000.
Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)
This airport operator's shares may be trading well below their highs due to the impact of the pandemic on the travel industry, but this hasn't diminished their market-beating returns over the last 10 years. Thanks to its position as the busiest airport in Australia and the global tourism boom, Sydney Airport was growing at a consistently solid rate until COVID-19 hit. This has led to its shares providing investors with an average total return of 12.35% per annum since 2011. This would have turned a $20,000 investment into almost $64,000.
Technology One Limited (ASX: TNE)
This enterprise solutions company's shares have been another great place to invest over the last decade. During this time the company has gone from being a relatively small player to one of the largest in the region. In addition to this, its shift to a software-as-a-service business model has underpinned strong growth in its recurring revenues in recent years. This has gone down well with investors and positioned it well for the future. All in all, this has led to its shares generating an average total return of 26.8% per annum over the last decade. This means a $20,000 investment in its shares 10 years ago would be worth $215,000 today.
