Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Oracles in Omaha Nebraska is right in the middle of the United States; it's a three-and-a-half hour flight from both coasts. Located in the middle of the endless Great Plains, it is the most important agricultural and livestock producing area in the United States. From Nebraska's nicknames "Cornhusker State" and "Beef State," we know that it is a traditional pillar economy here.

Omaha in the east is the largest city in this sparsely populated agricultural state, but it is still a small city compared to other cities in the United States. The city has had a lot of celebrities, former US President Gerald Ford and Hollywood legend Marlon Brando were born here, but now the biggest name card here is undoubtedly Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.

Berkshire hathaway (brk), run by the two men from 1965 to the present, has achieved a staggering compound annual return of 20%, becoming an investment holding giant with a market capitalization of more than $700 billion. Buffett's personal assets exceeded $110 billion, making him once the richest man in the world.

Every spring and summer, tens of thousands of people from all over the world flock to tiny omaha airport for berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting. The meeting was also known as the Woodstock of investment circles, because the Oracle of Omaha went out of its way to answer shareholders 'questions and give its own opinions and predictions.

The annual shareholders 'meeting is the biggest event of the year in Omaha, and hotel prices can soar to up to four times normal. In 1965, only 12 people attended the shareholders 'meeting. In 1986, the number of participants exceeded 1000. In 2000, it exceeded 10,000. In recent years, the annual number of participants has stabilized at more than 40,000.

In recent years, Buffett shareholders 'meetings have seen more and more Chinese faces. As early as 2016, there were media statistics that the number of Chinese participants had exceeded 3000, making it the largest group of participants outside the United States. They had to fly more than ten hours from China to the United States and change planes again in San Francisco or Los Angeles before they could come to this small city in the middle of the United States and see the two wise people in person.

Tickets to Buffett's shareholder meeting cost no extra, just Berkshire Hathaway stock. Many investors take their children to attend the meeting, so that the children can experience the investment wisdom and philosophy of life on the spot from childhood, and even have the opportunity to ask questions to the two old people in person (need to draw lots on the spot). In recent years, Buffett and Munger have also been questioned by Chinese children.

Because of the epidemic, Buffett's shareholders 'meeting was held online in 2020 and 2021 before returning to Omaha CHI Health Sports Center last year. But because of epidemic control, large groups of Chinese investors did not return to Omaha until this year. Although it is temporarily impossible to count the number of Chinese participants this year, Chinese faces can be seen everywhere in Omaha airport, hotels and even convention centers.

Chinese attendees may not have returned to their former size this year, as flights between China and the United States remain limited, ticket prices remain high, and travel from China to Omaha is expensive. A group of participants from Beijing told Sina that they would have to pay as much as RMB 50,000 - 60,000 for economy class tickets alone, and RMB 250,000 - 260,000 for business class tickets, and many of them would have to transfer from Hong Kong to return home.

In fact, Buffett's shareholders 'meeting is broadcast live every year on the financial media line, and every word he says is reported over and over again by the media. Why would so many Chinese investors travel thousands of miles, pay dearly, and travel to Omaha just to see the two stock gods for themselves?

(Investors enthusiastically welcome Buffett's appearance) Different meanings of the scene Qi Ke, founder and president of Wanghua Investment and former managing director of CICC, has attended Buffett's shareholders 'meeting for the eighth time. Since 2015, except for the years interrupted by the epidemic, he has traveled to Omaha almost every year in person to listen to Buffett and Munger's words in person.

"I personally don't like watching media coverage. Because the topics involved in the conference span many fields such as finance, finance, politics, culture, etc., the language used by the two old people is also relatively old, there are accents, but also involves context problems, media interpretation reports often have deviations. So I had to be there, see it, hear it. "

For Qi Ke, coming to Omaha this year has special significance. He graduated from Colombia University Business School, an alumnus of Buffett, and once heard Buffett lecture on Columbia University campus. This time he specially asked Buffett's assistant to dedicate his newly published book Winning Investment: The Code of Microrevolution Wealth to his "investment mentor," which is a systematic exposition of his combination of value investment philosophy and Chinese investment practice.

For Fang Wuyi, who is learning value investment, there is indeed an idol factor here. Buffett and munger are heroes in the investment community. You see your idol on the spot, and it's completely different from what you see on TV. For example, when I was young, I loved playing basketball. If I had the chance to watch Jordan and Kobe play live, I would definitely go there. "

This is Fang Wuyi's second visit to Buffett Shareholders 'Meeting. Compared to the last time he came to Omaha, this time he had more knowledge accumulation, read a lot of investment books about Buffett, and did enough homework to attend the meeting. "Now people of our age have experienced some things and experienced some setbacks. Listening to Buffett and Munger will have special deep feelings, so I am willing to listen to them on the spot. "

In order to sit closer to Buffett, he and his friends went to the center of the venue to queue at 4 a.m. By the time they arrived, hundreds of people were already lining up at the four entrances. Some of them even queued up before midnight. "It's not just business investors who line up early. I see multi-billion dollar fund managers lining up after 5:00. "

Yang Delong, executive general manager of Qianhai Open Source, is also coming to Omaha for the fifth time. He said that the feeling of attending the shareholders 'meeting on the spot is very different from that of looking at it from a distance. Buffett has great charm as a stock god. On the one hand, he is indeed very successful in value investment. On the other hand, they are happy to share and answer nearly 60 questions every year.

Buffett will spare no effort to explain value investing to everyone. This is also a lot of investors do not have, many investors may do their own investment well, rarely do the promotion of value investment ideas, I think this is Buffett's respect. "

A Chinese investor who wished to remain anonymous also mentioned another concern: "Buffett is 93 years old, Munger is even 99. The chances of them attending the shareholders 'meeting in person are reduced by one year. Maybe I won't attend next year, so if I have the opportunity this year, I have to come to the scene. Every meeting may be the most precious memory. "

But at the end of the event, he felt relieved: the two old men were even better than they had been two years ago, and he should be able to come back to Omaha next year. Although Munger came to power in a wheelchair this year, Buffett and Munger, who are nearly 100 years old, maintained a good mental state throughout the six-hour question-and-answer session throughout the day, and their thinking remained sharp and did not even show any tiredness.

Although Buffett and Munger have not announced plans to retire, they have identified successors last year because of their advanced age. If Buffett is unable to continue working, Greg Abel, the current vice chairman, will take over as CEO. At the shareholders 'meeting, Buffett once again made it clear that Abel would be his successor and would be Berkshire Hathaway's final decider.

Qi Ke admitted that he came to Omaha entirely because of Buffett and Munger's personal charm. "Berkshire Hathaway would be a completely different company without these two old men. Perhaps its performance and stock price haven't changed much, because his successor is now more mature in business, but he won't come to the shareholders 'meeting again. They are wonderful speakers and humorists. "

He also mentioned,"One of the details that impressed me this year was that Munger used to walk in on his own, but this year he was in a wheelchair. Buffett, 93, personally pushed Munger, 99, in a wheelchair. What an honor. As someone from China, I am very touched. "

On the other hand, the friendly attitude of the two stock gods towards China and their positive optimism about investment opportunities in China are also important reasons for attracting Chinese investors. Even at a time of strained relations between the two countries, the two old men are still calling for good relations and are actively optimistic about China's investment prospects. Of course, because of their age and high prestige, they do not have to avoid American political pressure and political correctness, and can speak freely.

At this year's shareholder meeting, munger once again bluntly used three "stupid" words to describe the conflict between the united states and china. He stressed that tensions between the two countries hurt each other and that the United States should improve relations and develop trade with China. Buffett also added that there is competition between the two countries, but (the United States) cannot put too much pressure on them, citing Apple as an example, saying it is in the common interest of both countries to get along well.

As we all know, Munger has always been a bullish on the Chinese market. In response to shareholders 'questions, Munger reiterated that China remains a good choice for foreign investment."Investing in China allows you to buy some better companies at a cheaper price than investing in the United States. Even with some uncertainty, it's worth it. "

When it comes to artificial intelligence, Munger again emphasizes the technological advantages of Made in China. He mentioned that if you go to China and go to BYD's assembly workshop, you can see a lot of cases of artificial intelligence technology being used in manufacturing. Although Buffett and Munger have reduced a lot of BYD shares for asset allocation in the past six months, Berkshire Hathaway still holds nearly 10% of BYD's H shares.

The annual Buffett shareholder meeting also provides an opportunity for Chinese investors to gather in Omaha. Many media, investment institutions and business schools will hold investor receptions and experience-sharing activities before and after the event. Three years after the outbreak, Sina Finance's China-US investor reception in Omaha has entered its eighth session.

At the reception, many Chinese investors who came to Omaha also shared their insights at Buffett's shareholders 'meeting, which was a valuable gain for them to travel thousands of miles to attend the shareholders' meeting. Buffett's investment philosophy of creating value for enterprises is the biggest feeling of many domestic fund managers.

Li Yimei, general manager of Huaxia Fund, mentioned his feelings at the shareholders 'meeting, saying that Buffett's relationship with the invested enterprises is worth learning from many investors, not only to discover value, but also to increase value and create value, which is different from investors in the secondary market. Value investors not only find undervalued and valuable stocks in the market, but also bring more possibilities and value to the listed companies invested as creators.

Mention Buffett's influence on himself and Huaxia Fund. She mentioned that one of the most moving words she heard at the shareholders 'meeting this year was,"Every Berkshire Hathaway shareholder is our partner." Because this year is also the 25th anniversary of Huaxia Fund,"although we can't have so many shareholders to hold a meeting like Buffett, we hope that what we do and the efforts we make can create value for investors. This is our highest honor. "

Wu Jifu, deputy general manager of Guangfa Securities, also said with emotion that Buffett is not only the most famous investor in the contemporary era, but also a caring, socially responsible and respected elder. He values the interests of his customers and insists on treating their money like his own. He advocates specialization, arguing that companies that insist on creating value tend to be highly focused on core business. He stressed internationalization and that investment would not stop at national borders. "

Buffett and Munger's calmness is also emphasized by many Chinese investors. Buffett and Munger remained cautiously optimistic at this year's shareholders 'meeting, where hot AI-related issues continued to emerge. Munger admits that AI is changing many industries, but he remains skeptical of the AI craze and that conventional wisdom still works. Buffett also stressed that he does not think artificial intelligence can overwhelm human intelligence.

Yang Delong of Qianhai Open Source felt that domestic investment in artificial intelligence has been almost crazy, and now even some pharmaceutical fund managers have moved to the AI field, which is a signal of excessive speculation. "Buffett is very stubborn in pursuing companies with good performance, rather than catching up with the market tuyere. Perhaps his performance cannot catch up with other funds for a period of time, but after a long time, Buffett's performance is still the best. How many investors who speculate on the concept can get long-term optimistic returns? "

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