Warren Buffett said Wednesday that his investments in Japan have exceeded his expectations and he is open to investing more in the country.
Here are some of the key points from his appearance:
On Japan:
Buffett spoke positively about his increased investment in five major Japanese trading houses.
“Their results have exceeded our expectations since we bought the group,” Buffett said. “We couldn’t feel better about the investment.”
Buffett noted that Berkshire has a larger investment in Japanese equities than in stocks in any other country, the U.S. excluded. He also said Berkshire Hathaway would consider more investments in the country.
He has been visiting the Japanese trading houses in which he has invested, which are Mitsui (8031. Tokyo), Itochu Itochu (8001. Tokyo), Marubeni (8002. Tokyo), Sumitomo (8053. Tokyo), and Mitsubishi (8058. Tokyo).
On succession:
Buffett appeared alongside Greg Abel, the executive who heads the company’s noninsurance operations and is his heir apparent at Berkshire Hathaway.
“He [Abel] is tougher than I would be in terms of getting things done. It’s improved dramatically the management of Berkshire,” Buffett said, when asked about their working relationship. “We think alike on acquisitions, on capital management.”
Buffett said there hadn’t been a competition to be his successor between Abel and Ajit Jain, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway’s insurance operations.
“Ajit never wanted to run Berkshire,” Buffett said.
On banking panic:
Buffett said he never talked to President Joe Biden over the panic in the U.S. banking system after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, having been mooted as a potential buyer of troubled lenders.
“I would feel free to call a member of the administration but never the President of the United States,” Buffett said.
Buffett said that errors by managers of certain banks had been exposed but they weren’t of the same magnitude as the mistakes that led to the 2008-09 financial crisis. He also said the stabilization of the system wouldn’t be an expense for the U.S. government or bank depositors, as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is financed by the banks themselves.
“People shouldn’t be worried about losing their deposits in an American bank. Today they have no reason to worry,” he said.
On the Federal Reserve:
Buffett endorsed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s handling of monetary policy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I do not think I could run the Fed as well as Jay [Jerome] Powell. I think Jay Powell is doing a terrific job,” Buffett said.
He said he didn’t know whether the Fed had kept interest rates too low for too long and noted that inflation is a “constant threat,” but said so far the U.S. has done well in generally containing it.