I've been meaning to tell this story for a while, but never quite found the time until now. Apologies for its length, but I hope it illustrates what a great investment can look like and how it can keep on giving long after you’d expect.

My grandfather was always keen on his share portfolio and after his retirement in the 00’s, I’d often catch him at the kitchen table, newspaper spread wide open to the finance pages, checking the price of all his portfolio companies in that tiny print section up the back of the paper.

He had a classic boomer portfolio, ANZ, BHP, TLS etc, but one of his first picks was ARB. In 1999 he got a tip from his accountant, who I think had possibly been on the ARB board, that they were a pretty sharp bunch and might be worth a look. My grandfather purchased 15,000 shares for a total cost of $15,150. (All calculations have been done after allowing for a 2022 5-to-1 stock split).

These shares did rather well immediately, doubling in value by the end of the third year and then doubling again by the end of the sixth year. Following this strong start though, ARB hit a rough patch and over the next 18 months the share fell 35%, taking a full two and a half years to regain this lost ground and return to all-time highs. Perhaps with this sort of downturn he considered selling out, but instead he hung on and in his tenth year of holding, the stock raced up from $3 at the start of the year, to $5.17 at the close. Over the next 10 years, ARB performed brilliantly, steadily moving up to $15.89 in December 2018.

However, by this point my grandfather was 92 and sadly in December 2018 he passed away. He lived a wonderful life and together with his wife built an incredible family of 5 children and 8 grandchildren. But in his passing, his portfolio was slightly neglected. None of his children were particularly interested in the share market and as such, they became unintentional forced holders of ARB.

At this point, the initial $15k investment was now worth $238k, approximately a 15.6% annual return. But funnily enough, not long after his passing, COVID happened and outdoor hobbies became very attractive. ARB shares rocketed from $13 in March 2020 to $53 in November 2021 while his children in charge of the portfolio were none the wiser.

Eventually I discovered last year that the portfolio needed some attention. In December, we trimmed the 48% ARB allocation at around the $40 mark. These proceeds were then gifted to the grandchildren, which has so far helped 4 of the 8 put together a deposit to get their feet on the Australian property ladder.

To me, this story underlines two things: the power of a single, well-chosen investment, and the importance of holding on tight once you’ve found that one “magical” stock. Not one of those initial 15,000 ARB shares changed hands until last December.

Something as small as making one good share purchase 25 years ago, led to half of his grandchildren being able to purchase a home, a rarity for many young Australians.

Hopefully this story inspires a few of you good Strawpeople to eventually do the same!