Rolfe argues that Berkshire missed investing big in several major winners that “should have been in Buffett’s wheelhouse.” He cites Visa (V), Mastercard(MA), Costco Wholesale (COST), and Microsoft (MSFT).“Buffett is incredibly well-versed in the payments-processing industry given his half-century knowledge in longtime holding American Express. These two stocks [Visa and Mastercard] should have been layups for Buffett.” Berkshire does hold both Visa and Mastercard, but the positions are relatively small and are believed to be ones initiated by Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, Buffett’s two investment lieutenants. On Microsoft and Costco, Rolfe wrote that Buffett had “at his disposal unrivaled expert tutelage on each company in his hind pocket—but to no shareholder avail.” Munger is a longtime director of Costco, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has been Buffett’s friend for 30 years and a Berkshire director for about 15 years.

Rolfe wonders why Buffett continues to play an acquisition game at which he is at a disadvantage—“very un-Buffett-like, in our opinion,” he wrote. Buffett has sought to position Berkshire as an ideal home for private companies that want to maintain their autonomy, but there have been few takers. And Berkshire also is a source of rescue capital, but there hasn’t been much need of that during a long bull market and economic expansion.

Berkshire has made only one major acquisition in the past decade, a $32 billion purchase of aircraft-parts maker Precision Castparts in 2016. That deal looks like a disappointment as the company’s revenue is little changed since then. Berkshire doesn’t disclose Precision Castparts’ profits—part of a lack of financial disclose by Buffett that irks some Berkshire holders. Rolfe views that deal as a mistake, although Buffett has spoken favorably about the company.

Rolfe also expressed frustration with what many Berkshire holders consider the modest amount of stock buybacks under a more-expansive program unveiled in the summer of 2018. Berkshire bought back $2.1 billion of stock in the first half of 2019. At that pace, the company would buy back less than 1% of its shares outstanding this year. The company’s market value is $510 billion.