I believe Buffett has built the second biggest property and casualty business conglomerate in the U.S. behind AIG, and the company is several times the size of its the next closest insurance competitor, Allstate. In the reinsurance business, Buffett is regarded as one of the sharpest, if not sharpest, assessors of risk for writing insurance in the entire world. Imho, what Buffett has accomplished in the insurance business may be comparable to what Gates or Ellison have accomplished in the software industry. You talk about growth and market share being a big deal, well BRK may be on its way to becoming the largest insurance company in the world--- and unlike AMZN, SEBL and the new economy companies that you prefer---BRK is both big *and profitable for shareholders*. It takes a great deal of business skills to grow a large enterprise that is both successful in terms of market share and successful in terms of producing "owner earnings". If market share was all that matters, we should all invest in General Motors. Buffett is both a great entrepreneurial business leader and a great investor imo. By the way, successful investing is just a sub department responsibility, though a very important sub department responsibility, in running a successful insurance company, as insurance companies have to try to successfully invest the insurance float from operations to be successful.
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I am not an expert on the insurance industry, but that it is the way I see it.
Regards, Huey |
