By Andrew Bary
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel isn't following the original script when it comes to running the company's $300 billion equity portfolio.
Warren Buffett originally envisioned that Ted Weschler and Todd Combs would run the portfolio when he stepped down as CEO.
"Todd and Ted -- possibly aided by one additional manager -- will have responsibility for the entire equity and debt portfolio of Berkshire, subject to overall direction by the then-CEO and Board of Directors," the company said in a press release when Weschler was hired in 2011.
While Buffett was CEO, Combs and Weschler each had been running about 5% of the portfolio with Buffett handling the rest.
Abel succeeded Buffett as CEO at the end of last year and appears to be running 94% of it himself, while giving Weschler, a veteran Berkshire investment manager, authority over 6%. The 6% figure was cited in Abel's inaugural shareholder letter in February, when he wrote that Weschler would get additional authority for some holdings run by Combs.
Combs left Berkshire in December for an investment job at JPMorgan Chase and won't be replaced, according to The Wall Street Journal. Abel also decided to sell the stock that Combs had accumulated for Berkshire, the WSJ said. Barron's wrote those holdings could total $15 billion.
The company doesn't disclose which stocks were purchased by Combs and Weschler.
Possible Combs holdings include Berkshire investments in Verisign, Amazon.com, Constellation Brands, Pool, Visa, Mastercard, Capital One Financial , Aon, and Ally Financial. Berkshire sharply reduced its stake in Amazon in the fourth quarter and trimmed its holdings in Constellation, Pool, and Aon.
If those four stocks were managed by Combs, Berkshire might have got a start on selling those stocks in December after Combs left Berkshire. The extent of the Combs-related sales should be apparent in Berkshire's 13-F report detailing its individual equity holdings, which is due around May 15. The Combs and Weschler equity holdings for Berkshire generally each totaled about $3 billion or less. Buffett handled the larger investments like Apple, Coca-Cola, and American Express.
Abel's move to boost the Weschler portfolio allocation to 6% from 5% and not replace Combs are mild surprises. It also means Berkshire has little visible investment talent. Abel has no apparent experience as a portfolio manager. He had no immediate comment.
CFRA analyst Cathy Seifert tells Barron's that Berkshire could easily find outside investment talent to help manage the Berkshire portfolio. But that isn't Berkshire's style.
Abel plans to do what Buffett did. That involves overseeing Berkshire's dozens of operating businesses -- led by the BNSF railroad, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and a huge property and casualty insurance business including Geico -- while also running the equity portfolio.
Buffett loves portfolio management and has invested for more than 80 years. He still has a hand in the management of the portfolio as chairman and controlling shareholder.
Buffett, however, took a more hands-off approach to Berkshire's operations, while Abel is keenly involved in managing the businesses and is trying to boost returns at lagging subsidiaries. Buffett spent part of his days reading investment material and following the markets, while Abel travels around the country much of the time. Portfolio management appears to be a part-time job for him.
Buffett's view on the appropriate role for Abel with the portfolio appeared to evolve over the past decade. Buffett said at annual meetings in recent years that Abel's expertise in evaluating business and acquisitions gave him the right qualities to manage investments. Buffett said Abel should be responsible for running the equity portfolio.
"I would just leave the capital allocation to Greg, and he understands businesses extremely well. And if you understand businesses, you understand common stocks," Buffett said at the 2024 annual meeting in response to a question of who should run the equity portfolio. He noted that decision would be up to the Berkshire board.
Still, some Berkshire watchers had assumed Weschler would be given much greater authority over the portfolio when Buffett retired.
One factor could be Weschler's investment performance. Buffett said in 2019 that both Combs and Weschler were slightly behind the S&P 500 during their tenures, and he has said nothing that Barron's is aware of since then.
This has led to speculation that both were behind the market. Buffett is loath to criticize Berkshire employees, but was lavish in his praise of former investment manager Lou Simpson, who beat the market.
Two large Berkshire holdings likely run by Weschler, a $4 billion holding in kidney dialysis maker DaVita and a $3 billion position in satellite radio operator Sirius XM Holdings, are behind the market over the past five to 10 years. Both, however, are up nicely this year.
One clue that he oversees those two stocks is that he owns them personally, including a stake of over $300 million in DaVita.
Weschler didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Part of Abel's strategy is to essentially freeze about two-thirds of Berkshire's portfolio. He wrote in his annual letter that Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Moody's were core investments, with "limited activity in these holdings" likely.
The same approach applies for the five Japanese trading companies totaling about $40 billion that Buffett has accumulated since 2019, he wrote. These holdings total about $200 billion now.
There could be limited major additions to the portfolio anytime soon. Abel is a part-time manager, Weschler has limited authority, and Buffett sees little that excites him in the stock market.
Buffett told CNBC on March 31 that he wasn't "finding things" in the stock market except for what he described as a tiny purchase. Asked about the then-5% year-to-date drop in the S&P 500, he said "this is nothing," noting the index has been down 50% three times during his tenure as CEO.
The reported sale of the Combs-run stocks do follow a pattern. Berkshire sold many stocks held by former investment manager Simpson when he retired about 15 years ago, and it unloaded most of the $3 billion of stocks held by Alleghany after it bought the insurer in 2022.
Still, it seems rash to sell the Combs stocks simply because he departed. Combs bought blue-chip stocks, and selling them will probably will incur a tax bill and boost Berkshire's cash toward $400 billion. Berkshire likely is sitting on too much cash already.
Abel is putting his stamp on Berkshire and its portfolio, and investors will be interested to see how the portfolio evolves over the coming years.
Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 21, 2026 01:00 ET (05:00 GMT)
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