i can't remember a single year in which he was the best performing manager.
You actually nailed it with that statement - his performance is measured on decades, not year to year.
You actually nailed it with that statement - his performance is measured on decades, not year to year.
Tax avoidance is almost the bread and butter of international property and casualty. They help multi-nationals repatriate earnings in low tax countries. Nothing ILLEGAL about that... just something the sycophants probably don't realize.
Hardly a secret - it's the first line of business listed in the first sentence in every year's annual report (see http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2007ar/2007ar.pdf for example):
"Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is a holding company owning subsidiaries that engage in a number of diverse business activities including property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, utilities and energy, finance, manufacturing, services and retailing. "
who cares? who owns a single equity for decades? some fictional granny investor in pasadena? look at your own trading history...i bet you never held a single equity more than four years. note that i am distinguishing index funds and etfs here. berkA is a single equity
Either way - it's a moot point - (Just like the investment funds you excluded) BRK doesn't need to turn over an equity to increase their value, whatever the time period. They could never sell anything and still give increased returns to their investors.
I have held equities for more than four years. Most of my portfolio, actually. Daytrading and churning positions are for people with more time to devote to the market than I care to. But maybe I am fictional, as my grandmother gave me one of her BRKb shares in 2002 (which I still own).