Carta anual do Buffett já disponível
https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2019ltr.pdf
Reafirma a superioridade das acções sobre obrigações como investimento de longo prazo
Forecasting interest rates has never been our game, and Charlie and I have no idea what rates will average
over the next year, or ten or thirty years. Our perhaps jaundiced view is that the pundits who opine on these subjects
reveal, by that very behavior, far more about themselves than they reveal about the future.
What we can say is that if something close to current rates should prevail over the coming decades and if
corporate tax rates also remain near the low level businesses now enjoy, it is almost certain that equities will over time
perform far better than long-term, fixed-rate debt instruments.
That rosy prediction comes with a warning: Anything can happen to stock prices tomorrow. Occasionally,
there will be major drops in the market, perhaps of 50% magnitude or even greater. But the combination of The
American Tailwind, about which I wrote last year, and the compounding wonders described by Mr. Smith, will make
equities the much better long-term choice for the individual who does not use borrowed money and who can control
his or her emotions. Others? Beware!
Diz o que vai ser feito depois da sua morte com acções da BH que detem, mas não adaianta nada quanto a sucessores.
Today, my will specifically directs its executors – as well as the trustees who will succeed them in
administering my estate after the will is closed – not to sell any Berkshire shares. ...
.
The will goes on to instruct the executors – and, in time, the trustees – to each year convert a portion of my
A shares into B shares and then distribute the Bs to various foundations.
...
In all, I estimate that it will take 12 to 15 years for the entirety of the Berkshire shares I hold at
my death to move into the market.
Absent my will’s directive that all my Berkshire shares should be held until their scheduled distribution dates,
.
Dá porrada no funcionamento dos boards de directores
Over the years, board “independence” has become a new area of emphasis. One key point relating to this
topic, though, is almost invariably overlooked: Director compensation has now soared to a level that inevitably makes
pay a subconscious factor affecting the behavior of many non-wealthy members. Think, for a moment, of the director
earning $250,000-300,000 for board meetings consuming a pleasant couple of days six or so times a year.
...
And job security now? It’s fabulous. Board members may get politely ignored, but they seldom get fired.
Instead, generous age limits – usually 70 or higher – act as the standard method for the genteel ejection of directors.
Is it any wonder that a non-wealthy director (“NWD”) now hopes – or even yearns – to be asked to join a
second board, thereby vaulting into the $500,000-600,000 class? To achieve this goal, the NWD will need help. The
CEO of a company searching for board members will almost certainly check with the NWD’s current CEO as to
whether NWD is a “good” director. “Good,” of course, is a code word. If the NWD has seriously challenged his/her
present CEO’s compensation or acquisition dreams, his or her candidacy will silently die.
...
Despite the illogic of it all, the director for whom fees are important – indeed, craved – is almost universally
classified as “independent” while many directors possessing fortunes very substantially linked to the welfare of the
corporation are deemed lacking in independence.
termina a crítica com humor
Here, a pause is due: I’d like you to know that almost all of the directors I have met over the years have been
decent, likable and intelligent. They dressed well, made good neighbors and were fine citizens. I’ve enjoyed their
company. Among the group are some men and women that I would not have met except for our mutual board service
and who have become close friends.
Nevertheless, many of these good souls are people whom I would never have chosen to handle money or
business matters. It simply was not their game.
They, in turn, would never have asked me for help in removing a tooth, decorating their home or improving
their golf swing. Moreover, if I were ever scheduled to appear on Dancing With the Stars, I would immediately seek
refuge in the Witness Protection Program.
