Photo source: Visual China
The Blue Whale News reporter noticed that Berkshire Hathaway's recently disclosed 13F form on the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website shows that “stock god” Buffett has returned to his familiar field — insurance.
According to documents, as of the end of the first quarter of 2024, Berkshire's overall holdings were US$332 billion (approximately RMB 2.4 trillion), down from US$352 billion at the end of the previous quarter, and the concentration of the top ten major stocks was 91.19%.
Judging from the move to adjust positions, Buffett withdrew from the US stock technology sector last year and increased his investment in fields such as energy and insurance.
For example, in the fourth quarter of 2023, Berkshire sold nearly 10 million Apple shares; at the end of the first quarter of 2024, the market value of Berkshire's Apple holdings fell from US$174.3 billion to US$135.4 billion, reducing its holdings by nearly 116 million shares according to agency estimates. At the same time, Berkshire also reduced HP's holdings in a clean-up manner.
On the other hand, Berkshire began investing in Chubb Insurance in the third quarter of last year and continued to increase its holdings, but this was not disclosed to the outside world before. The SEC allowed Berkshire to keep this a secret. At the Berkshire Annual Meeting held in Omaha earlier this month, Buffett also did not discuss this topic with the outside world.
By the end of the first quarter of this year, Berkshire held a total of 25.92 million shares of Adachi Insurance, with a market value of over 6.7 billion US dollars (equivalent to RMB 48.4 billion), making it one of Berkshire's top ten US stocks. According to Dow Jones market data, Berkshire's shares in Chubb Insurance account for 6.4% of its total equity.
Analysts believe that this indicates that Buffett is showing a more cautious attitude towards the US stock market.
Buffett believes that high-tech enterprises are changing too fast and do not fall within the category they are familiar with. It is difficult to predict their long-term competitive advantage, and he prefers fields he is familiar with and companies that have not changed for a long time. Regarding the increase in cash positions on hand, Buffett said that unless we can find investment standards that currently have very little risk and bring great returns, we will not spend this money, “just swing at the right time.”
In fact, the insurance business has always been Berkshire's main focus. It owns car insurance company Geico, reinsurance giant General Re (General Re), and many other insurance companies.
Buffett also recently stated in a letter to shareholders: “Property and casualty insurance provides a core guarantee for Berkshire's health and growth.”
According to information, Chubb Insurance is an insurance company headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. It is listed on the NYSE and operates in 54 countries and regions around the world. It is one of the largest publicly traded property and accident insurance companies in the world, ranking fifth among listed insurance companies in terms of total market value.