Source: Caixin.

From May 3rd to May 5th Eastern Time, the annual global investment event, known as the 'Investment Spring Festival' Buffett shareholders' meeting, will be held in the small town of Omaha, USA.

As usual, this year's Buffett shareholders' meeting is still lively, with an expected around 0.04 million people flying to Omaha from around the world to attend. However, for Buffett and many investors, this is also an unusual shareholders' meeting - with Munger, Buffett's good friend for decades, passing away, this year's shareholders' meeting will only have Buffett and his two deputies on stage, the scene of Buffett and Munger together has become a thing of the past.$Berkshire Hathaway-A (BRK.A.US)$/$Berkshire Hathaway-B (BRK.B.US)$Buffett and Munger, the two of them on the same stage, have become a special moment in this year's shareholders' meeting as a result of Munger's passing.

This added a touch of sadness to this shareholders' meeting, and Buffett is likely to also mention his old friend at the meeting. Considering Buffett's advanced age of 94, it may be a case of 'one less every meeting' for the Buffett shareholders' meeting.

Therefore, investors will particularly cherish the insights that this 'Oracle of Omaha' will share this time. These Q&A sessions will not only revolve around Berkshire and its business, but also include many reflections on investments and even life. So, what topics at this shareholder meeting are worth paying attention to? Let's find out.

The following is the schedule of the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders' meeting.

A shareholders' meeting without Munger.

At previous Berkshire shareholders' meetings, Berkshire's Vice Chairman, Buffett's old friend Charlie Munger, would almost always sit beside Buffett. In addition to answering investor questions, Munger and Buffett would often banter with each other, and his humorous and wise words would often liven up the entire atmosphere of the venue.

However, in November last year, Charlie Munger passed away at the age of 99, just 33 days before his 100th birthday. Therefore, at this year-end Buffett shareholders' meeting, we will rarely no longer see Munger's presence on the scene, with only three people on stage: Buffett and his two fund managers, Greg Abel and Ajit Jain.

In this year's shareholder letter, Buffett solemnly reminisced about Munger, calling him the 'Eternal Architect of Berkshire Hathaway'. At this Buffett shareholders' meeting without Munger, what will Buffett feel and what words will he say to remember Munger will be one of the focal points for investors.

Will the successor become the next 'Buffett and Munger' pair?

Warren Buffett is already 94 years old this year, and it is indeed a concern for many people how many more years he can attend the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting in the future.

Fortunately, he has gradually handed over the company's baton to Greg Abel, and the words and deeds of this successor will also receive more and more attention from the market.

As early as last year's shareholder meeting, Buffett had designated Abel as his successor. In the shareholder letter released in February this year, Buffett reiterated that Abel is ready to take over as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway in all aspects for tomorrow.

Greg Abel is the head of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, mainly investing in non-insurance business, while Ajit Jain is mainly responsible for the insurance business. Previously, Buffett had praised the two of them as 'geniuses' on various occasions, so many outsiders are paying attention to whether Abel and Jain will be the next 'Buffett and Munger', and whether they will fully continue Buffett's investment style and vision after Buffett steps down.

About investment issues

Over the past year, Berkshire's investment moves have frequently appeared in the news:

Firstly, there is a continued increase in investment in Japanese stocks, with its stake in the five major Japanese trading companies rising from 5% in 2020 to 9%;

Secondly, there is a continued increase in holdings of petroleum stocks such as Chevron and Occidental Petroleum. Currently, its stake in Occidental Petroleum has risen to 34%;

Furthermore, occidental petroleum reduced its shareholding in apple - in the fourth quarter of last year, Berkshire Hathaway unusually reduced its stake in apple by 10 million shares, which attracted special attention, as apple has been Berkshire Hathaway's top holding in recent years, even at last year's shareholders' meeting, Buffett bluntly stated that selling some apple shares in 2020 was 'very foolish.' However, just a few months later, Buffett chose to reduce his holdings in apple again, which signifies something worth pondering.

From the current market performance, Buffett's investment moves are almost like a 'predicting the future':

Since 2024, the Nikkei 225 index has led the global market, with the average increase of the top five Japanese trading companies exceeding 20% in the first four months of this year;

Affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Israel-Palestine conflict, petroleum stocks have risen sharply, with occidental petroleum accumulating a rise of over 13% since the beginning of the year;

Reducing its holding in apple turned out to be a 'magical move': after Buffett reduced his stake in apple in the fourth quarter of last year, the stock price of apple has indeed performed poorly this year, with apple falling by nearly 12% as of last Friday's close.

At this year's shareholders' meeting, many investors are likely to want to know Buffett's attitude towards Japanese stocks, petroleum stocks, and apple as investment symbols. Surely, this will also be a hot topic at the shareholders' meeting.

Regarding artificial intelligence: Will the 'stock god' set aside his concerns?

Since the rise of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, the craze for this artificial intelligence has swept the globe, and to this day, it remains one of the hottest topics in the global market.

At last year's shareholder meeting, Buffett, who has never been fond of tracking market trends, expressed his concerns about ai: "AI can do almost anything, which worries me a bit."

At that time, he also mentioned that when he saw AI, he thought of the invention of the atomic bomb and therefore had some concerns, after all, "people can't invent everything back to the original state after creating AI." He also emphasized that AI may change many things in the world, but cannot change human thoughts and behaviors.

However, from the financial reports of several tech giants in the first quarter of this year, it seems that technology giants like Microsoft and Google have gradually brought real profits thanks to ai. Will this change Buffett's view on ai? It is worth investors' continued attention.

In fact, for this shareholder meeting, Buffett has too many topics to discuss: the macroeconomy of the USA, the banking crisis in the USA, global geopolitical situations, views on major industries...

There are many questions people have, seeking answers from this "Oracle of Omaha." The 94-year-old man exchanging ideas with global investors face to face for these 5 hours is worth investors' "watching and cherishing."

Editor/tolk