Hinting at a foray in India, he said it would not take much time before it pursues opportunities in the country He added Berkshire’s new management will decide on investments in India.
Legendary investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett is bullish on India. Presiding over the company’s annual meeting on Sunday, the nonagenarian investor said there are loads of opportunities in India.
To a question on whether his company Berkshire was actively looking for opportunities in India, Buffett, without getting into specifics, said there are unexplored or unattended to opportunities and areas in India.”
“In India, I am sure that there are loads of opportunities in a place like India, and the question is do we have any advantage, in either insights into those businesses or contacts that will make possible for some transactions that participants in India would particularly want us to participate,” the nonagenarian investor said.
“I would say that’s something that more energetic management at Berkshire could pursue because we do have a reputation now and is known around the world and our Japanese experience has been fascinating. In that respect, so there may be an unexplored or unattended to opportunities and area (in India),” he added.
Warren Buffett Portfolio
Buffett did sell off nearly USD 6 billion in stocks during the quarter, including trimming about 13 per cent of Berkshire’s massive Apple stake. The investment in the iPhone maker is still the biggest one in the USD 364 billion portfolio at USD 135.4 billion, and Buffett said he expects Apple to remain the biggest investment for years — even up to when his successor takes over.
But the estimated value of Berkshire’s Apple stake suggests that Buffett sold off more than 100 million shares. Buffett has said he invested in Apple’s stock because of how devoted consumers are to the iPhone and other Apple products.
“We’d love to spend it but we won’t spend it unless we’re doing something with very little risk that will make us a lot of money,” Buffett said.
5 Key Investing Tips By Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett had given investment tips during many of his earlier addresses to shareholders.
Focus On The forest: In a 2018 letter to shareholders, he wrote that investors should focus on the forest of (like who a corporate group is) instead of the details of many and diverse businesses the group may be running. If the group is fine, don’t evaluate every tree individually rather evaluate the future potential of your investment.
Don’t invest for the sake of it: Because there were no good investing opportunities available in the market he did not deploy the capital. So, the investors who have money to invest should not just do it for the sake of investing but wait for the right opportunity.
Being cash rich keeps you safe and secure: He stated that having plenty of cash to face any contingency in future. He mentioned that his company Berkshire holds a massive amount of treasury bills and other cash equivalents.
Importance of retained earnings: In Buffett’s 2019 letter to shareholders, quoted Edgar Lawrence Smith’s 1924 book ‘Common Stocks as Long Term Investments’ which was reviewed by John Maynard Keynes who wrote that well-managed industrial companies do not distribute the whole of their earned profits to the shareholders.
Risk evaluation: In the letter in 2019, he stated that risk evaluation is the daily focus of his company’s insurance managers. “At Berkshire it is a religion, Old Testament Style,” he wrote.
(With input from agencies)