Focussed investing: allocating capital by concentrating on businesses with outstanding economic characteristics and run by first-rate manager.
The central theme uniting Buffett's investing is that the principles of fundamental business analysis, first formulated by his teachers Ben Graham and David Dodd, should guide investment practice. Linked to that theme are investment pricniples that define the proper role of corporate managers as the stewards of invested capital, and the proper role of shareholders as the suppliers and owners of capital.
Buffett and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger have built Berkshire Hathaway into a $70-plus billion enterprise by investing in business with excellent economic characteristics and run by outstanding managers. While they prefer negotiated acquisitions of 100% of such a business at a fair price, they take a "double-barreled approach" of buying on the open market less than 100% of such businesses when they can do so at a pro-rata price well below what it would take to buy 100%.
The double-barreled approach pays off handsomely. The value of marketable securities in Berkshire's portfolio, on a per share basis, increased from $4 in 1965 to nearly $50,000 in 2000, about a 25% annual increase. Per share operating earnings increased in the same period from just over $4 to around $500, an annual increase of about 18%. According to Buffett, these results follow not from any master plan but from focussed investing - allocating capital by concentrating on businesses with outstanding economic characteristics and run by first-rate manager.
Learning from Buffett
Buffett views Berkshire as a partnership among him, Munger and other shareholders, and virtually all his $20-plus billion net worth is in Berkshire stock. His economic goal is long-term - to maximize Berkshire's per share intrinsic value by owning all or part of a diversified group of businesses that generate cash and above-average returns. In achieving this goal, Buffett foregoes expansion for the sake of expansion and foregoes divestment of businesses so long as they generate some cash and have good management.
Berkshire retains and reinvests earnings when doing so delivers at least proportional increases in per share market value over time. It uses debt sparingly and sells equity only when it receives as much in value as it gives. Buffett penetrates acounting conventions, especially those that obscure real economic earnings.
It is true that investors should focus on fundamentals, be patient, and exercise good judgment based on common sense. Many people speculate on what Berkshire and Buffett are doing or plan to do. Their speculation is sometimes right and sometimes wrong, but always foolish. People would be far better off not attempting to ferret out what specific investments are being made at Berkshire, but thinking about how to make sound investment selections based on Berkshire's teaching. That means they should think about Buffett's writings and learn from them, rather than try to emulate Berkshire's porfolio.
Buffett modestly confesses that most of the ideas were taught to him by Ben Graham. He considers himself the conduit through which Graham's ideas have proven their value. Buffett recognizes the risk of popularizing his business and investment philosophy. But he notes that he benefited enormously from Graham's intellectual generosity and believes it is appropriate that he pass the wisdom on, even if that means creating investment competitors.
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Buffett has applied the traditional principles as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, a company with roots in a group of textile operations begun in the early 1800s. Buffett took the helm of Berkshire in 1964, when its book value per share was $19.46 and its intrinsic value per share far lower. Today (2002), its book value per share is around $40,000 and its intrinsic vlaue far higher. The growth rate in book value per share during that period is about 24% compounded annually.
Berkshire is now a holding company engaged in a variety of businesses, not including textiles. Berkshire's most important business is insurance, carried on through various companies including its 100% owned subsidiary, GEICO Corporation, the sixth largest auto insurer in the United States, and General Re Corporation, one of the four largest reinsurers in the world. Berkshire publishes The Buffalo News and owns other businesses that manufacture or distribute products ranging from carpeting, briks, paint, encyclopedias, home furnishings, and cleaning systems, to chocolate candies, ice cream, jewelry, footwear, uniforms, and air compressors, as well as businesses that provide training to operators of aircrafts and ships worldwide, fractional ownership interests in general aviation aircraft, and electric and gas power generation. Berkshire also wons substantial equity interests in major corporations, including American Express, Coca-Cola, Gillette, The Washington Post, and Wells Fargo.
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