No US ETF's = Berkshire ?

dor843088

Now that we cannot access US ETFs what do people think of berkshire hathaway as a passive buy and forget investment? No dividend tax leakage and no deemed disposal as I understand it. I have vti and vxus at the moment and was happy with the plan until I couldn't access my funds anymore. Anyone have a view on this ?

Gordon Gekko

I've been thinking the same but - and not to be too delicate about it - I think the Buffett/Munger mortality risk is just too high. People blah on about succession plans etc., but I find it hard to believe there won't be a serious correction in BRK when one of them unfortunately passes.

Munger is what, 91 and Buffett late 80s. While it may be a temporary blip when they do pass, and may represent a buying opportunity, the risk is just too great. No matter what anyone says, there must be a significant 'Buffett premium' in the stock - you are primarily investing in the greatest value investor of modern times.

dor843088

Since buffets age is no secret then his leaving the company should be priced in . It owns over 100 carefully selected companies with above average fundamentals below average debt and access to huge amounts of money. Even if buffet goes the fundamentals do not change. At least for me I am going to go ahead and invest monthly in berkshire. If the US ETFs become available again I will revisit. The tax incentives alone are very appealing and compounded over time could be huge. General advice says avoid fees so avoiding these nonsense taxes must also ring true.

robp

When I looked into this question I was a bit disappointed that there was not more holding companies like Berkshire or that mimic the broader indexes. I could not even find European examples but I guess that there could be. There are US examples. Some others that also have done pretty well like Markel Corporation and others like Loews that have done less well. So one is back to the confirmation bias problem.

TiGeR KiNgS

Its actually very possible that the stock will increase if Buffet dies (he thinks the increase will happen) on grounds that the company will be broken up.

wasabi

Consider researching Closed End Funds (CEFs) or UK investment trusts.

garrettod

TiGeR KiNgS wrote: »

Its actually very possible that the stock will increase if Buffet dies (he thinks the increase will happen) on grounds that the company will be broken up.

If Buffet thinks that, then the question I'd ask is - does he want to see it broken up, or is he mentoring the wrong people to replace himself and Charlie ?

alexlyons

dor843088 wrote: »

At least for me I am going to go ahead and invest monthly in berkshire.

How are you planning to do this? I am thinking the same.
If you go with Class B which are at $200, and say you'll invest 500 a month, are you simply going to put 500 in an account and buy 2 shares each month and every 2-3 months buy an extra one?

Or pick a set number of shares and buy that number each month regardless of price?

With the objective that the share price increases, you will either be spending more each month if you go with a set number of shares, or you will be buying less and less as the price increases.

Interested to see your take on this as I haven't found a solution I am happy with yet