Warren Buffett hands over the baton to Greg Abel. The fact that the legendary investor and CEO of the investment company Berkshire Hathaway $BRK.B (-2.44%) is stepping down at the age of 94 is something that everyone can understand. For shareholders, however, the transition is fraught with uncertainty, despite all the promises of continuity: Buffett's footsteps are difficult to fill, and what's more, Berkshire - despite its still impressive performance - is also a victim of its own success. With a share portfolio worth around 300 billion dollars, the company is simply a cumbersome tanker.
It is therefore worth taking a look at alternatives. In addition to the Canadian investment holding Brookfield $BN (+50%) the Markel Group ($MKL (-1.93%) ) is becoming increasingly well-known. With a market capitalization of 21 billion euros, it may be tiny compared to Berkshire, but otherwise there are great similarities. Markel's "base" is also an insurance group, but there is also the investment division, which invests the money according to value criteria. The largest positions are Berkshire Hathaway and Brookfield, followed by Alphabet, Deere and Amazon. The less well-known investments include the air conditioning distributor Watsco, the strategy consultancy Marsh & McLennan and the broker LPL Financial. Baby Berkshire certainly has no track record to hide behind: Over the past ten years, the share price has risen by around 145 percent - with fairly moderate fluctuations.
Source: Focus Money
