| General American Investors Company, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest closed-end funds. For over 75 years, we have internally managed a global portfolio of investments, consisting principally of common stocks of U. S. companies but also including international and private securities.
As a closed-end fund, shares of our Common Stock are listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Thus, our asset base is not as subject to wide fluctuations due to shifts in investor sentiment as is the asset base of an open-end (mutual) fund. This stability has enabled us to diligently pursue our long-term analytical approach and, we believe, has contributed to our superior long-term investment results.
Over the 40 years ended December 31, 2004, the return to our common stockholders (assuming reinvestment of all dividends) was 12.9% per year while the return on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index (including income) was 10.5% per year. This venerable legacy has continued during the market turbulence of the last 10 years as illustrated in our results over the most recent 1, 3, 5 and 10 year periods which can be viewed under Annualized Results. These data reflect past performance and may not be indicative of future results. |
