投資蘋果疑似是巴菲特門生所爲

A takeover of Berkshire Hathaway’s largest pension funds allowed Warren Buffett’s two investment protégés, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, to make bigger bets such as the $1bn stake in Apple that was disclosed this week.

接手伯克希爾哈撒韋公司(Berkshire Hathaway)旗下最大的養老基金，使沃倫•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)的兩名投資門生託德•庫姆斯(Todd Combs)和特德•韋施勒(Ted Weschler)能夠進行更大手筆的投資，比如本週披露的斥資10億美元買入蘋果(Apple)股票。

The former hedge fund managers are expected to assume control of the $2.3bn fund at Precision Castparts, the aerospace supplier Mr Buffett acquired this year, on top of other Berkshire subsidiary pension funds that have already swelled their investment portfolio to $9bn apiece.

這兩位前對衝基金經理將接管巴菲特今年收購的航空航天業供應商精密鑄件公司(Precision Castparts)的23億美元基金，在此之前，他們接管的其他伯克希爾旗下的養老基金已經使他們各自管理的投資組合擴大到了90億美元。

The expanded firepower enabled one of the pair to make the distinctly un-Buffettlike investment in Apple, and has helped Berkshire widen its investment activities into industries, including technology, where Mr Buffett is uncomfortable.

擴大的財力讓兩人中的其中一人做出了一個明顯不符合巴菲特風格的決定——投資蘋果，這幫助伯克希爾將投資活動擴大到一些巴菲特並不習慣投資的行業，包括科技業。

“They certainly have a more extensive knowledge of certain industries and activities in business that have developed in the last 10 or 15 years,” Mr Buffett said at Berkshire’s annual meeting last month.

“對過去10年或者15年發展起來的某些行業或者商業活動，他們無疑擁有更廣泛的認識，”巴菲特上個月在伯克希爾的年會上說。

Mr Combs and Mr Weschler have also allowed Mr Buffett to realise a long-held ambition to fire many of the external fund managers who ran Berkshire subsidiary company pension funds and manage the funds in-house.

庫姆斯和韋施勒還讓巴菲特實現了一個他長期以來的抱負——解僱管理着伯克希爾子公司養老基金的許多外部基金經理，轉爲由公司內部管理這些基金。

The result is that several Berkshire funds have a strikingly different investment profile to typical corporate pension funds. Instead of a diversified portfolio of bonds and equities, Mr Combs and Mr Weschler are invested in a small number of stocks. “One has seven or eight positions and the other one has maybe 13 or 14,” Mr Buffett said, although he has declined to say whose investments are whose.

結果是，幾隻伯克希爾旗下基金的投資組合與典型的公司養老金截然不同。庫姆斯和韋施勒只投資少數幾種股票，而非持有由多種債券和股票組成的多樣化投資組合。“一人投了7只或8只股票，另一人大概投了13或者14只股票，”巴菲特說，儘管他拒絕透露誰是哪一種。

At Berkshire’s railways subsidiary, BNSF, 90 per cent of the $2.06bn fund is now invested in equities, and its most recent annual report revealed that just three stocks account for 47 per cent of the fund’s assets.

伯克希爾旗下鐵路公司北伯林頓鐵路公司(BNSF)的20.6億美元基金現在90%投資於股票，其最新的年報顯示，僅僅3只股票就佔了該基金資產的47%。

Lubrizol’s $585m pension fund was 92 per cent invested in equities at the end of 2014, up from 66 per cent three years earlier, according to their most recent regulatory filings. FlightSafety’s $377m fund was 88 per cent in stocks, up from 39 per cent at the end of 2011.

根據路博潤(Lubrizol)提交給監管部門的最新報告，2014年底，該公司5.85億美元的養老基金有92%投資於股票，而3年前這個數字爲66%。FlightSafety的3.77億美元基金有88%投資於股票，而2011年底這個數字爲39%。

Berkshire’s $32.7bn acquisition of Precision Castparts — a company in which Mr Combs had earlier bought a small stake — closed in January and its pension fund is expected to follow a similar model, although the transition requires approval and could take several years.

伯克希爾斥資372億美元收購精密鑄件的交易在1月完成（此前庫姆斯曾買入該公司的少量股權）。該公司的養老基金預計也將遵循類似的模式，儘管交接還需要得到批准，可能會花幾年時間。

Mr Buffett has long argued that equities will outperform over the long run, even if they are sure to be more volatile, and Berkshire could use its $58bn cash pile to top up the funds if equity markets fall or his protégés’ bets turn sour. Mr Buffett declined to comment.

長期以來，巴菲特一直主張，即使股票必定波動性更大，但從長期來看股票的表現更爲優秀。而且，如果股票市場下跌，或者他的門生們的投資失敗，伯克希爾也可以利用其580億美元的現金來補足這些基金。巴菲特拒絕置評。

The delegation of authority to Mr Combs and Mr Weschler partly reflects how Berkshire’s investment portfolio has become less central to the company, and to Mr Buffett’s role as chief executive. About two-thirds of the company’s $342bn market value resides in its operating companies, which include some of the largest rail infrastructure, insurance companies and utilities in the US, and a key part of Mr Buffett’s job is allocating capital investment between them.

將權力下放給庫姆斯和韋施勒，部分反映出伯克希爾的投資組合對該公司、以及對巴菲特的首席執行官之位而言，不再居於核心地位。伯克希爾3420億美元市值的三分之二來自於其所運營的公司，包括美國最大的一些鐵路基礎設施、保險公司和公共事業，巴菲特的一項重要工作是在它們之間分配資本。

“He has built a broader brain trust than he ever had before,” said George Washington University professor Larry Cunningham, author of Berkshire Beyond Buffett.

“他已經建立了一個比以往任何時候都龐大的智囊團，”喬治華盛頓大學(George Washington University)教授、《巴菲特之後的伯克希爾》(Berkshire Beyond Buffett)的作者拉里•坎寧安(Larry Cunningham)表示。

“Berkshire is in rail, energy, homebuilding and industrial companies because Mr Buffett found people that he could trust to run those.”

“伯克希爾擁有鐵路、能源、住宅建設和工業公司，因爲巴菲特找到了他能夠信任的人來運營這些公司。”

Mr Buffett has said that his job will be split after his retirement with a new chief executive, who observers believe will come from the operating companies, and a separate person, or people, overseeing the investment portfolio.

巴菲特說過，在他退休以後，他的職責將拆分，將有一位新的首席執行官（觀察人士認爲將來自伯克希爾旗下運營公司），再加上一位或數位負責投資組合的人。