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“I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years.”

— Warren Buffett

The above quote from Warren Buffett is timeless, and brings into focus the choice about time horizon that any investor should think about before buying a stock they are considering. Behind every stock is an actual business; what will that business look like over a five year period?

Today, let’s look backwards in time to 2014, and take a look at what happened to investors who asked that very question about CBRE Group Inc (NYSE: CBRE), by taking a look at the investment outcome over a five year holding period.

Start date: 07/29/2014
$10,000

07/29/2014
$16,265

07/26/2019
End date: 07/26/2019
Start price/share: $32.51
End price/share: $52.88
Starting shares: 307.60
Ending shares: 307.60
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 62.66%
Average annual return: 10.23%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $16,265.49

The above analysis shows the five year investment result worked out quite well, with an annualized rate of return of 10.23%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $16,265.49 today (as of 07/26/2019). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 62.66% (something to think about: how might CBRE shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

Another great investment quote to think about:
“Never test the depth of a river with both feet.” — Warren Buffett