3

I see a lot of references to "Warren Buffett's" portfolio, but it looks like most of them are actually just Berkshire Hathaway's 13-F, although most don't reference any source. Does Warren Buffett have a personal portfolio, or is it just Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio that everyone is referring to?

If it is just Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio, why would anyone want to shadow Warren/Berkshire's buys when they can just invest in Berkshire Hathaway?

If it's not Berkshire (they both have "public" portfolios), why would Warren buy differently than Berkshire? Just different strategies when representing shareholders?

|improve this question
  • 1
    Have you seen the price for 1 share of Berkshire Hathaway? It isn't that small an amount of money to get a share. – JB King Dec 5 '13 at 6:09
  • 1
    @JBKing, BRK.B, which is a basically a "split" of BRK.A (to solve the problem you're referring to), is currently 115 per share. – Alex Lauerman Dec 5 '13 at 14:09
  • 1
    The price of the stock is a public perception of the value of the company which may or may not be the same as the total value of its holdings is something else to note. – JB King Dec 5 '13 at 18:14
  • (1) Is his portfolio public? You've got the same tools for researching that as I do... (2) Why would he buy (or hold) differently than Berkshire? One obvious answer would be because there are risks/opportunities that are either too small, or too much a personal call, or that aren't publicly traded, or... Many possible reasons for him to diverge in details even if he's following similar principals overall. – keshlam Dec 20 '14 at 13:41
6

While Warren Buffet does hold nearly 100% of his wealth in BRK, he does have a personal retirement account of a few million USD at last disclosure.

Individual accounts are not for public consumption; however, he has revealed that he invests in a similar manner as he did as managing partner of Buffett Partnership, Ltd. and its predecessors, in far smaller companies than the current BRK holdings.

|improve this answer
  • 1
    Great answer. So to "follow" Warren, you just need to invest in BRK, but seeing his latest acquisitions (via 13-F) gives insight into what he currently sees as the most valuable addition to BRK, but this would not necessarily mean it's his favorite investment because he may be picking it partially for diversification (e.g., not to over-invest in Wells Fargo). It seems like investing in BRK is much easier so you do not have to consider re-basing your portfolio each quarter when the 13-F comes out, and also get to "buy in" earlier when BRK does. – Alex Lauerman Dec 5 '13 at 14:22
0

It is the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio, most likely, but you'd better ask those people that reference to it that you're referring to.

|improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.