Buy Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) shares from just $10 on Stake
Australian investors can now buy Class A stocks in Warren Buffet's iconic Berkshire Hathaway for under $320,000.
Berkshire Hathaway Class A (NYSE:BRK.A) shares have today launched on share trading app Stake, which means Australians can now invest in the US company for a small fraction of its price.
Warren Buffet is perhaps the most well-known investor in the world today, and Class A shares in his iconic company usually cost investors around US$320,000 a share.
The hefty price tag means that BRK.A shares – which trade on the New York Stock Exchange – have been out of reach to most Australian investors.
From Thursday, Australians can buy the shares for as little as $10 thanks to Stake's fractional investing feature. According to Stake, it's the only platform in Australia offering the option.
Fractional investing means that instead of buying individual shares, you can invest in portions of them. This can be particularly useful for investors looking to buy shares in companies such as Berkshire Hathaway, Google or Amazon, which have share prices of more than $1,000.
“This is one of the most exciting stocks in the world," Matt Leibowitz, founder and CEO of Stake said in the announcement. "Anyone with even a slight interest in the markets knows about it, talks about it, but very few would actually have been able to own it."
How to invest in Berkshire Hathaway
There are two types of Berkshire Hathaway shares available in Australia – Class A (BRK.A) and Class B (BRK.B) shares.
Investors wanting to buy shares in Hathaway without the big price tag have traditionally purchased Class B shares thanks to the lower cost. As of 31 October 2019, Class B shares are trading for just over US$213, while Class A shares cost US$320,000.
However, there are other differences that will make Class A shares the more attractive option:
- Class A shares have historically outperformed Class B.
- Class A shares can be converted into Class B shares, but the same is not true in reverse.
- Class B shares can split (as happened in 2010). However, Buffet has assured shareholders that Class A will never experience this.
- The status element of owning Class A will be attractive for some investors.
If you already have the Stake app and you're interested in buying Class A (or Class B) shares for a portion of the price, you'll need to search and select the stock, choose the "Market Buy" order type and type in the amount you'd like to invest (must be over $10).
Stake is an Australian digital broking app that offers zero fee brokerage on US stocks. More than 50,000 customers have signed up since its launch in 2017.
