I think your BHE question appears quite strong. I've noticed many times in the past that sometimes Warren (and Charlie, RIP) would answer a part of a question or otherwise grab onto a part of a question to talk about something on their mind. (That happened to me last year.) I think your BHE question is not only very relevant for obvious reasons, but stated in such a way that the chances of a response that gets at the heart of your query would be appear to be on the higher side.
Another topic I'm curious about is the impact of coming changes in the wake of the lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors, HomeServices of America, and others. HomeServices of course is a BHE subsidiary. With future changes in the fee structure for Realtors a certainty, I wonder what this does for the the profitability of BRK's real estate brokerages? I know the compay can't talk about pending litigation, but at ~17% of BHE's 2023 revenue (and closer to 25% for the two prior years) this is a legit question.
HomeServices did not participate in the settlement but is going to be affected anyway by the changes agreed to by the NAR since NAR controls the multiple listing service (MLS). There's some debate over how significant the rule changes really are. Several years ago, I submitted a question to Becky Quick about risks to the real estate business model and she asked the question. Buffett did not seem concerned at the time but this was several years ago.
If the two of them have failed to beat the S&P 500 with "small" amounts, why should shareholders have confidence when the two of them manage all of the equity portfolio?
I'm also concerned about potential "drift" in the types of investments that Todd & Ted make. Snowflake and Paytm do not appear to me to be the types of investments that Warren or Charlie would make. I realize these are much smaller amounts but I have concern about what they possibly portend for the future...
There have also been some quick entries and exits, notably Markel. Buffett doesn't micromanage their decisions but certainly should evaluate them over long periods of time.
It is possible that one of the managers is outperforming the other and Buffett might not want this publicized.
It has been hard being a value investor over the past 10-15 years vs. the S&P 500 but this is still a long period of time to underperform, if that's in fact what has happened.
It's an issue, I agree. A related issue is that Todd is CEO of GEICO, a very big job, in addition to managing the portfolio. There was a podcast some time ago when Todd described his schedule which I can only characterize as extremely heavy. I don't know how long that's sustainable, or if it is a good idea at all.
I'd like to know as well but I would be surprised if he's willing to disclose the results, either individually or in aggregate. It is a valid question. And there is precedent since a table with Lou Simpson's results was released in 2004 in the Chairman's letter.
fyi... https://www.ft.com/content/fd3b3324-d775-4e09-a916-76f2f3ac675b
Good questions! I would be interested in hearing the rationale for moving BNSF out of National Indemnity.
I think your BHE question appears quite strong. I've noticed many times in the past that sometimes Warren (and Charlie, RIP) would answer a part of a question or otherwise grab onto a part of a question to talk about something on their mind. (That happened to me last year.) I think your BHE question is not only very relevant for obvious reasons, but stated in such a way that the chances of a response that gets at the heart of your query would be appear to be on the higher side.
Another topic I'm curious about is the impact of coming changes in the wake of the lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors, HomeServices of America, and others. HomeServices of course is a BHE subsidiary. With future changes in the fee structure for Realtors a certainty, I wonder what this does for the the profitability of BRK's real estate brokerages? I know the compay can't talk about pending litigation, but at ~17% of BHE's 2023 revenue (and closer to 25% for the two prior years) this is a legit question.
HomeServices did not participate in the settlement but is going to be affected anyway by the changes agreed to by the NAR since NAR controls the multiple listing service (MLS). There's some debate over how significant the rule changes really are. Several years ago, I submitted a question to Becky Quick about risks to the real estate business model and she asked the question. Buffett did not seem concerned at the time but this was several years ago.
If the two of them have failed to beat the S&P 500 with "small" amounts, why should shareholders have confidence when the two of them manage all of the equity portfolio?
I'm also concerned about potential "drift" in the types of investments that Todd & Ted make. Snowflake and Paytm do not appear to me to be the types of investments that Warren or Charlie would make. I realize these are much smaller amounts but I have concern about what they possibly portend for the future...
There have also been some quick entries and exits, notably Markel. Buffett doesn't micromanage their decisions but certainly should evaluate them over long periods of time.
It is possible that one of the managers is outperforming the other and Buffett might not want this publicized.
It has been hard being a value investor over the past 10-15 years vs. the S&P 500 but this is still a long period of time to underperform, if that's in fact what has happened.
It's an issue, I agree. A related issue is that Todd is CEO of GEICO, a very big job, in addition to managing the portfolio. There was a podcast some time ago when Todd described his schedule which I can only characterize as extremely heavy. I don't know how long that's sustainable, or if it is a good idea at all.
Todd/Ted annual investment performance vs S&P 500 since the inception of their respective hirings? Tyx
I'd like to know as well but I would be surprised if he's willing to disclose the results, either individually or in aggregate. It is a valid question. And there is precedent since a table with Lou Simpson's results was released in 2004 in the Chairman's letter.