I'm a fan of buy and hold investing and believe it is one of the best ways to grow your wealth.
To demonstrate just how successful this investment strategy can be with ASX 200 shares, I often like to see how much a single $20,000 investment in certain ASX 200 shares 10 years ago would be worth today.
Let's see how investments in these shares have fared during the past decade:
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Jumbo Interactive Ltd (ASX: JIN)
The first ASX share that we are going to look at is Jumbo Interactive. It is the online lottery ticket seller behind the Oz Lotteries platform. It also has a growing Powered by Jumbo software as a service platform. This side of the business is aiming to disrupt the global lottery market by making the shift online easier for lottery operators. Combined, these businesses have underpinned strong earnings growth over the last decade and even stronger returns for investors. In respect to the later, Jumbo's shares have provided investors with an average total return of 32% per annum since 2014. This would have turned a $20,000 investment in its shares 10 years ago into a mouth-watering ~$320,000 today.
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)
Another ASX share that has beaten the market over the last decade is investment bank Macquarie. Thanks to the quality and diversity of its operations and its strong position in investment banking, Macquarie has delivered strong profit growth over the 10 years. This has led to its shares outperforming both the market and the big four banks by some distance. For example, since 2014, the bank's shares have recorded an average total return of 15.5% per annum. This would have turned a $20,000 investment in Macquarie's shares a decade ago into ~$85,000 today.
NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)
Finally, a third ASX share that has been a market-beater over the last 10 years has been data centre operator NextDC. Thanks to strong demand for capacity in its world-class centres due to the structural shift to the cloud (and now the artificial intelligence megatrend), NextDC's revenue and operating earnings have been growing at a rapid rate. This has put a rocket under the company's shares and underpinned some very strong returns since 2014. For example, over the last decade, NextDC's shares have generated an average return of 26.5% per annum. This means that a $20,000 investment in the data centre operator's shares 10 years ago would have grown to be worth ~$210,000 today.
