Warren Buffet's annual letter

Warren Buffetā€™s annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway investors was published on Saturday:

The historical letters are here in case it is of interest:
https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html

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Buffett pissed at the new accounting principles.

Thanks @Sleepy.

Some notable gems from the 2019 letter:

On the markets:

What we can say is that if something close to current rates should prevail over the coming decades and if corporate tax rates also remain near the low level businesses now enjoy, it is almost certain that equities will over time perform far better than long-term, fixed-rate debt instruments.

That rosy prediction comes with a warning: Anything can happen to stock prices tomorrow. Occasionally, there will be major drops in the market, perhaps of 50% magnitude or even greater. But the combination of The American Tailwind, about which I wrote last year, and the compounding wonders described by Mr. Smith, will make equities the much better long-term choice for the individual who does not use borrowed money and who can control his or her emotions. Others? Beware!

On the future of BH:

Charlie and I long ago entered the urgent zone. Thatā€™s not exactly great news for us. But Berkshire shareholders need not worry: Your company is 100% prepared for our departure.

The two of us base our optimism upon five factors. First, Berkshireā€™s assets are deployed in an extraordinary variety of wholly or partly-owned businesses that, averaged out, earn attractive returns on the capital they use. Second, Berkshireā€™s positioning of its ā€œcontrolledā€ businesses within a single entity endows it with some important and enduring economic advantages. Third, Berkshireā€™s financial affairs will unfailingly be managed in a manner allowing the company to withstand external shocks of an extreme nature. Fourth, we possess skilled and devoted top managers for whom running Berkshire is far more than simply having a high-paying and/or prestigious job. Finally, Berkshireā€™s directors ā€“ your guardians ā€“ are constantly focused on both the welfare of owners and the nurturing of a culture that is rare among giant corporations. (The value of this culture is explored in Margin of Trust, a new book by Larry Cunningham and Stephanie Cuba that will be available at our annual meeting.)

On the board of directors:

Over the years, board ā€œindependenceā€ has become a new area of emphasis. One key point relating to this topic, though, is almost invariably overlooked: Director compensation has now soared to a level that inevitably makes pay a subconscious factor affecting the behavior of many non-wealthy members. Think, for a moment, of the director earning $250,000-300,000 for board meetings consuming a pleasant couple of days six or so times a year. Frequently, the possession of one such directorship bestows on its holder three to four times the annual median income of U.S. households. (I missed much of this gravy train: As a director of Portland Gas Light in the early 1960s, I received $100 annually for my service. To earn this princely sum, I commuted to Maine four times a year.)

And job security now? Itā€™s fabulous. Board members may get politely ignored, but they seldom get fired. Instead, generous age limits ā€“ usually 70 or higher ā€“ act as the standard method for the genteel ejection of directors.

On buying back own shares:

Calculations of intrinsic value are far from precise. Consequently, neither of us feels any urgency to buy an estimated $1 of value for a very real 95 cents. In 2019, the Berkshire price/value equation was modestly favorable at times, and we spent $5 billion in repurchasing about 1% of the company.

Over time, we want Berkshireā€™s share count to go down. If the price-to-value discount (as we estimate it) widens, we will likely become more aggressive in purchasing shares. We will not, however, prop the stock at any level.

Shareholders having at least $20 million in value of A or B shares and an inclination to sell shares to Berkshire may wish to have their broker contact Berkshireā€™s ā€¦

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I guess when you donā€™t need to think about the next 15 years, you can keep on going with old methodsā€¦

I bet he still outperforms the majority who disagree :joy:

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Iā€™ll gladly pay attention to someone with a portfolio half the size of Warren Buffettā€™s portfolio and better average annual results. Iā€™ll truly listen very carefully about their modern ways of producing returns

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The last 10 years have hardly been impressive.

Big bull market over the last few years and heā€™s sitting on a mountain of cash.

People said the same in the run up to 2000. I think their hesitation may yet prove to be foresight.

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Yup, historically criticisms of Berkshire underperformance are the equivalent of a Bat-Signal projecting the words ā€œTop is in.ā€

Iā€™ve distilled this energy into a user friendly meme:

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