I'm a big fan of buy and hold investing and believe it is the best way for investors to grow their wealth. This is thanks largely to the power of compounding.
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.
This time around I have picked out the two ASX shares that are listed below:
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)
Although the CSL share price has come under pressure over the last 12 months, this hasn't prevented it from being a market-beater over the last 10 years.
During this time, investors have been bidding the biotherapeutics company's shares higher in response to consistently strong sales and earnings growth. This has been driven by strong demand for its immunoglobulins, successful acquisitions, and its ongoing investment in research and development. In respect to the latter, each year CSL invests ~11% to 12% of its sales back into these activities. This will result in a US$1 billion+ investment this year.
Since this time in 2013, CSL's shares have generated an average total return of 15.8% per annum. This would have turned a $20,000 investment into almost $87,000.
Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME)
Pro Medicus has been a millionaire maker over the last decade. The leading radiology information systems (RIS) and Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) provider's shares have absolutely smashed the market thanks to its consistently strong sales and earnings growth.
This has been driven by many of the largest health institutions in the world signing long-term contracts in recent years as they shift from legacy systems to Pro Medicus' industry-leading technology.
Over the last 10 years, the Pro Medicus share price has generated an average total return of 66.5% per annum. This means $20,000 invested into its shares in 2013 would be worth a massive $3.25 million today.
