Plan to read through Buffett’s annual letters.
Taking notes
Buffett commented on businesses / industry.
He was in textile. Looking backward, it’s a hard industry that should avoid. Buffett defended that they got excellent management team and were a large employer while employees were accommodating (flexible pay?).
He wrote a lot on insurance, which seems growing extremely well.
He invested in banking (Illinois National Bank). Buffett spoke highly of the person / manager and the track record.
Buffett also wrote on investment philosophy.
He likes ROE. His rationale is that growth in EPS could be partially due to growth in equity.
He also talks about long-term holding vs. short-term gains. But he may as well sound a bit like bragging as he also got short-term gains.
He likes very good managers, so he focuses on “managerial economic performance”, which is better reflected in ROE.
His experience was that buying shares is cheaper than taking private of a business. And he could keep the existing managers on board. In fact, “we can obtain a better management result through non-control than control”, which I think is crucial to Buffett’s long-term success.
A digression – insurance businesses’ success relies on good managers, which also makes sense.