Columbia University Press
Inside the Investments of Warren Buffett
About this book
A gift to Buffett followers who have long sought a pattern to the investor's success, Inside the Investments of Warren Buffett presents the most detailed analysis to date of Buffet's long-term investment portfolio. Yefei Lu, an experienced investor, starts with Buffett's interest in the Sanborn Map Company in 1958 and tracks nineteen more of his major investments in companies like See's Candies, the Washington Post, GEICO, Coca-Cola, US Air, Wells Fargo, and IBM. Accessing partnership letters, company documents, annual reports, third-party references, and other original sources, Lu pinpoints what is unique about Buffett's timing, instinct, use of outside knowledge, and postinvestment actions, and he identifies what could work well for all investors in companies big and small, domestic and global. His substantial chronology accounts for broader world events and fluctuations in the U.S. stock market, suggesting Buffett's most important trait may be the breadth of his expertise.
Author / Editor information
Reviews
The most detailed analysis to date of Buffet's long-term investment portfolio.
uniquely valuable, information-packed volume.... By digging up long forgotten annual reports and sharing his own thoughtful insights, Yefei Lu does an excellent job filling in the missing pieces of the puzzle in understanding how Buffest invests.
M. Ali Khan, Abram Hutzler Professor of Political Economy, Johns Hopkins University:
By examining twenty of Warren Buffett's investments over a fifty-year period from 1960 through 2011, Yefei Lu discusses Buffett's likely analysis of each one and the lessons to be learned from them. Inside the Investments of Warren Buffett should appeal to value investors and those wanting to benefit from Buffett's investment experience.
[Inside the Investments of Warren Buffett] provide[s] great insights into deep value investing.
Recommended for any investor or student seeking financial expertise.
For serious investors and analysts eager to transcend the cult of personality around Buffett and discern what actually makes him great, this study comes highly recommended.
Joel Cohen, MIT Investment Management Company:
Yefei Lu does us all a great favor in making it so easy to follow him as he looks back at the key investments Buffett made throughout his career. Lu provides his own analysis of what Buffett would have seen, and invites us to sit in Buffett's shoes ourselves by providing as much primary source information as possible—a monumental research effort by any measure. One even has the feeling of reaching certain critical investment insights, right alongside Buffett, that greatly influenced his development as an investor.
John Elkann, Chairman and CEO, Exor S.p.A.:
A simple and useful analysis of Warren Buffett's twenty key investments over the course of his fifty-plus-years career. Lu has done a great job in illustrating the key factors that Buffett paid attention to in assessing the risk-reward profile of each investment. There are many lessons to be learned in this book for anyone interested in long-term investing.
John Mihaljevic, publisher, The Manual of Ideas:
In the crowded market for books about Warren Buffett, portfolio manager Yefei Lu has written a uniquely valuable, information-packed volume. This instant classic analyzes twenty of Buffett's most notable investments, starting in 1958 and continuing through to today. A must read!
Robert Vinall, CEO, RV Capital:
Warren Buffett has talked extensively about his investment philosophy but unfortunately less so on actual investments. By digging up long forgotten annual reports and sharing his own thoughtful insights, Yefei Lu does an excellent job of filling in the missing pieces of the puzzle in understanding how Buffett invests.
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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Acknowledgments
ix -
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Introduction
xi - Part I. The Partnership Years (1957–1968)
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1. 1958: Sanborn Map Company
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2. 1961: Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company
17 -
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3. 1964: Texas National Petroleum Company
28 -
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4. 1964: American Express
34 -
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5. 1965: Berkshire Hathaway
53 - Part II. The Middle Years (1968–1990)
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6. 1967: National Indemnity Company
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7. 1972: See’s Candies
73 -
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8. 1973: The Washington Post
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9. 1976: GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company)
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10. 1977: The Buffalo Evening News
100 -
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11. 1983: Nebraska Furniture Mart
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12. 1985: Capital Cities/ABC
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13. 1987: Salomon Inc.—Preferred Stock Investments
128 -
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14. 1988: Coca-Cola
138 - Part III. The Late Years (1990–2014)
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15. 1989: US Air Group
153 -
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16. 1990: Wells Fargo
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17. 1998: General Re
180 -
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18. 1999: MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company
197 -
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19. 2007–2009: Burlington Northern
211 -
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20. 2011: IBM
230 - Part IV. Lessons Learned
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21. Evolution of Buffett’s Investment Strategy
248 -
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22. What We Can Learn from Buffett
254 -
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Appendix A. Performance of Buffett Partnership Limited (1957–1968)
263 -
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Appendix B. Performance of Berkshire Hathaway (1965–2014)
265 -
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Notes
267 -
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Selected Bibliography
277 -
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Index
279