Travis Johnson

Baby Boomer Investment Tip - Buy Berkshire

Sorry, forgot to note that I still do own Intuitive Surgical. I don't own any of the other companies mentioned, aside from Berkshire Hathaway.
Travis

Markel More Berkshire-like Than Ever

My argument that the similarities have gotten "just a little bit stronger" refers to the fact (as I noted above) that Gayner, like Buffett before him, recently joined the Washington Post board. As I said in the note, it's just a small thing that I found interesting ... but I suppose the headline by itself is a bit of hyperbole. That's not why I bought shares most recently. I like Markel's specialty focus, their commitment to only selling profitable policies, and their use of long term growth in book value as a measure of success (and the fact that bonuses for management are based on 5-year book value growth, not on share price appreciation or reported earnings). The relationship between the book value and the share price has fluctuated significantly over the years, from priced under book to priced well above the current roughly 2X book, but as long as their underwriting performance and investment strategy continue to add to the book value I'm reasonably confident this investment will work out for me over the next ten to twenty years.

Markel More Berkshire-like Than Ever

And that's how a market is made ... thanks for the comments.

Markel doesn't techically have private equity investments, perhaps, I'm not the judge for what to call them, but has acquired interest in non-publicly-traded companies, both of which are local to their VA offices. It may end there, or it may not (my guess is that they will continue to explore this area, but I have no inside knowledge).

It is of course partly tongue in cheek that I refer to any company as "the next Berkshire" -- there is unlikely to be another one of those, nor another Warren Buffett, but I think Markel has enough of the right traits to make it an excellent investment for the long term. Whether today's price is too high is a matter for judgement and personal interpretation, but for my time horizon and outlook for the company, I consider it a fair price (I don't think it's hugely undervalued). Though they have exhibited spectacular performance in the past, I don't believe they've reached their maximum density -- they remain a fairly small company with, I believe, plenty of growth potential both in the US and overseas.