10 Most Successful Investors in the World

5. Ray Dalio

Investment Firm: Bridgewater Associates
Net Worth: $15.6 billion

The story goes that Ray Dalio, the number 5 in our list of most successful investors in the world bought his first stock when he was 12, back in the 1960s. He had some money stashed away from caddying at the local golf club and he invested it in Northeast Airlines. The stock tripled in value shortly after. Since then Dalio has been going from success to success. In 2007 he predicted the 2008 financial crisis and wrote an essay ‘How the Economic Machine Works’.

Top Holding: Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fd (NYSEARCA:VWO)

Bridgewater’s top holding on June 30 was the Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fd (NYSEARCA:VWO), in which it had over $2.46 billion invested. The ETF is designed to mimic the stock picks and performance of the FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index, which houses about 3,500 stocks from emerging markets, weighted by market cap. Some of the top names carried by the ETF are Tencent Holdings Ltd (HKG:0700),  Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd.(TPE:2330), and Naspers Limited (JSE:NPN), which are traded on the Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Johannesburg stock exchanges respectively. The Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fd (NYSEARCA:VWO) has gained 14.55% this year, but is down by over 13% over the past five years, as many emerging markets have failed to develop as rapidly as expected. Eight other hedge funds in our database owned shares of the ETF at the end of June.