Berkshire Hathaway, reporte anual 2012

Buffett ha publicado un nuevo capítulo de esa biblia de la inversión que son las legendarias cartas anuales de Berkshire.

Comentarios de Buffett sobre la incertidumbre económica:

"There was a lot of hand-wringing last year among CEOs who cried “uncertainty” when faced with capital allocation decisions (despite many of their businesses having enjoyed record levels of both earnings and
cash). At Berkshire, we didn’t share their fears, instead spending a record $9.8 billion on plant and
equipment in 2012, about 88% of it in the United States. That’s 19% more than we spent in 2011, our
previous high. Charlie and I love investing large sums in worthwhile projects, whatever the pundits are
saying. We instead heed the words from Gary Allan’s new country song, “Every Storm Runs Out of Rain.”"

Sobre el market timing:

"Since the basic game is so favorable, Charlie and I believe it’s a terrible mistake to try to dance in and out
of it based upon the turn of tarot cards, the predictions of “experts,” or the ebb and flow of business
activity. The risks of being out of the game are huge compared to the risks of being in it."

Buffett condensa en 10 líneas lo que otros intentan explicar en 300 páginas, sin más dilación, enjoy:

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/berkshireannualreport2012.pdf

Slds,

Cesc

No está nada mal la cartera:

Me gustaría destacar esta parte:

ACQUISITION CRITERIA

We are eager to hear from principals or their representatives about businesses that meet all of the following criteria: (1) Large purchases (at least $75 million of pre-tax earnings unless the business will fit into one of our existing units), (2) Demonstrated consistent earning power (future projections are of no interest to us, nor are “turnaround” situations), (3) Businesses earning good returns on equity while employing little or no debt, (4) Management in place (we can’t supply it), (5) Simple businesses (if there’s lots of technology, we won’t understand it), (6) An offering price (we don’t want to waste our time or that of the seller by talking, even preliminarily, about a transaction when price is unknown).

Al margen de la calidad incuestionable, destacaría que sus 4 primeras posiciones (Wells Fargo, Coca Cola, IBM, America Express) suman alrededor de un 65% del total del portfolio.

Manejar un portfolio de cerca de 90 billones de USD con esos niveles de concentración me parece verdaderamente remarcable.

Coca Cola 12-bagger, no está nada mal y sin contar los dividendos.

Un saludo,

Cesc

Si, exceptuando el punto nº1 por una simple cuestión de sentido común, los mortales deberíamos tatuarnos en la frente del punto 2/ al 5/ como guión previo a cualquier adquisición.

El prestigio de Buffett es tal, que los dueños de algunas empresas que en un momento determinado, reciben ofertas de varios compradores incluyendo a BRK, acaban vendiéndole a Buffett y Munger a un precio inferior al de otras ofertas.

Lección nº 1.000.000, sobre la liquidez:

"Charlie and I believe in operating with many redundant layers of liquidity, and we avoid any sort of obligation that could drain our cash in a material way. That reduces our returns in 99 years out of 100. But we will survive in the 100th while many others fail. And we will sleep well in all 100."

Un saludo,

Cesc