慈善晚宴拍卖者受股神青睐 巴菲特继任人选再添一员

　　⊙记者 王宙洁 ○编辑 朱贤佳

　　“股神”巴菲特的接班人候选计划12日有了最新动向。巴菲特旗下伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司当日宣布，任命泰德·韦施勒帮助管理该公司的投资。后者曾 斥巨资赢得巴菲特的慈善晚宴拍卖，并因此引起“股神”注意。作为一名对冲基金经理，泰德·韦施勒在过去10年中的投资业绩优异。加入伯克希尔后，他将与另 外一位接班人多德·库姆斯共同管理该公司的投资组合。

　　接班候选人再添一员

　　伯克希尔公司在当日的一则公告中表示，在巴菲特不再担任首席执行官(CEO)职务后，多德和泰德，可能再加上另外一位基金经理人，将共同承担管 理伯克希尔所有股票和债券投资组合的责任，并服从时任CEO和董事会的指导。公告称，“多德和泰德加入公司后，伯克希尔将为巴菲特卸任CEO时的投资管理 继任问题做好准备。”

　　据海外媒体报道，今年50岁的泰德·韦施勒将从明年初开始在伯克希尔公司工作，与去年加盟的多德·库姆斯共同管理公司股票投资组合。巴菲特此前 曾表示，他还将聘请第三位经理人，但该公司523.6亿美元美国股票投资中，将有很大一部分继续由巴菲特管理。巴菲特现任伯克希尔董事长、首席执行官和投 资负责人。

　　去年10月，巴菲特指定了第一位“草根英雄”作为其接班人。一家小型对冲基金的经理多德·库姆斯成为他的人选。多德·库姆斯当时年仅39岁，所管基金主要是投资于金融服务公司的股权。但巴菲特表示，多德·库姆斯是符合公司文化的100%完美人选。

　　巴菲特当时还表示，他暂时仍会保留首席投资官的位置，多德·库姆斯将掌管一个规模让他“可以接受”的投资组合，投资组合的规模会逐渐扩大，直到几个月之后库姆斯有机会“全部投入”。

　　伯克希尔的接班计划是美国商界最受关注的事件之一。巴菲特一直说，他和公司董事会计划将其在伯克希尔的责任分派给数人。不过一些跟踪伯克希尔股 票的分析师近几周表示，新人何时加入以及会有多少人加入，一直悬而未决，因此这会拖累伯克希尔的股价。一些投资者称，当前是伯克希尔股票在约为30年来被 最为低估的时候。

　　巴菲特13日表示，这是很久之前就制定好的一项计划的一部分，“我们已经制定了完美的接班计划，我感觉好极了。10年之后再给我打电话，到那时候我就91岁了。”此外，巴菲特还表示，他的儿子霍华德·巴菲特可能会担任伯克希尔的非执行董事长。

　　接班人业绩不菲

　　巴菲特表示，今后泰德·韦施勒和多德·库姆斯都会逐渐获得伯克希尔越来越多的资金用以投资，并在股票选择上不受任何限制。巴菲特说，他们一直在 寻找低估值股票，并且公司会给其规模相同的一片天地来施展才华。根据计划，泰德·韦施勒将管理伯克希尔660亿美元权益类证券中10亿到30亿美元的资产 组合。

　　泰德·韦施勒此前任职于半岛资本顾问公司，该公司是一家总部位于弗吉尼亚的对冲基金，管理资产规模达20亿美元。泰德·韦施勒是伯克希尔保险公司计划聘请的三位经理中的第二位。

　　据海外媒体报道说，泰德·韦施勒曾在2010年赢得巴菲特年度慈善拍卖，巴菲特是那时注意到他的。据投资者称，这位来自弗吉尼亚州的基金经理在过去11年的总投资回报率为1236%，同期伯克希尔B类股的股价上涨了84%，标准普尔500指数下跌将近23%。

　　此外，根据申报文件，截至今年6月30日，泰德·韦施勒的半岛资本顾问公司持有约20亿美元的股票多头仓位。

　　海外媒体报道称，伯克希尔将会为他们支付基本薪资外加绩效奖金，奖金多寡将会和他们击败标准普尔500指数的程度挂钩。不过，他们的收入会按照普通收入的税率缴税，而非按照对冲基金资本收益15%的税率来缴税。

　　上个月末，伯克希尔公司宣布向美国银行投资50亿美元，巴菲特以他在金融危机期间支持高盛和通用电气时的同样方式来支持这家美国的银行巨头。受此消息提振，美银股价当时一度大涨近26%。

　　而对于伯克希尔来说，这是一宗不错的交易。有分析师认为，伯克希尔将获得认股权证，有权按照略高于每股7.14美元的价格认购7亿股美银的普通股，行权时间为罕见的10年。分析认为，认股权证是这笔交易最划算的部分。


路透中国：巴菲特选中名气不大的Weschler进入接班人队伍
2011年 9月 13日 星期二 09:11 BJT
 
路透纽约/波士顿9月12日电---投资大亨巴菲特选择接班人的计划周一又推进了一步,任命Ted Weschler帮助管理伯克希尔哈撒韦(Berkshire Hathaway)(BRKa.N: 行情)的投资.Weschler是一位低调的对冲基金经理,他在过去10年中投资业绩优异.

今年50岁的Weschler将从明年初开始在伯克希尔公司工作,与去年加盟的Todd Combs共同管理公司股票投资组合.81岁的巴菲特已经表示,他还将聘请第三位经理人,但同时该公司523.6亿美元美国股票投资中,将有很大一部分继续由巴菲特管理.

Weschler与之前来到公司的Combs一样,虽然赢得了这份工作,但仍保持着低调.

据投资者称,这位来自弗吉尼亚州Charlottesville的基金经理在过去11年的总投资回报率为1,236%.同期伯克希尔B类股(BRKb.N: 行情)的股价上涨了84%,标准普尔500指数.SPX下跌将近23%.

根据申报文件,截至6月30日,他的Peninsula Capital Advisors持有约20亿美元的股票多头仓位.Combs在被雇佣时管理的资金规模约为4亿美元.

从聘请Combs时起,巴菲特就明确表示,会有人继续加盟投资团队,并最终取代他.不过一些跟踪伯克希尔股票的分析师近几周表示,新人何时加入,以及会有多少人加入,都一直悬而未决,因此拖累伯克希尔的股价.一些投资者称,当前是伯克希尔股票约30年来低估程度最严重的时候.(完)

--编译 郑茵;审校 张明钧

巴菲特伯克希尔公司官方声明

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC.
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 12, 2011
Berkshire Hathaway to Add Second Investment Manager
Omaha, NE (NYSE: BRK.A; BRK.B)—In 2007 Berkshire Hathaway began a search to add as many as three investment professionals to manage a portion of the equity portfolios of Berkshire’s insurance subsidiaries. The search was intensified when Lou Simpson, who had long been responsible for GEICO’s equity portfolio, elected to retire in 2010.
The first to join Berkshire was Todd Combs, who came to the company in 2010. Todd has proved to be an outstanding choice.
Today Ted Weschler, 50, of Charlottesville, Virginia, has announced to his limited partners that
he will be winding up his fund in order to join Berkshire early in 2012.
These two investment managers will each have responsibility for a segment of Berkshire’s present equity holdings. Warren Buffett, Berkshire’s Chairman, will continue, however, to manage most of the funds until his retirement.
After Mr. Buffett no longer serves as CEO, Todd and Ted – possibly aided by one additional
manager – will have responsibility for the entire equity and debt portfolio of Berkshire, subject to overall direction by the then-CEO and Board of Directors. With Todd and Ted on board,
Berkshire is well-positioned for successor investment management at the time Mr. Buffett is no
longer CEO.
Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries engage in diverse business activities including property
and casualty insurance and reinsurance, utilities and energy, freight rail transportation, finance, manufacturing, retailing and services. Common stock of the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading symbols BRK.A and BRK.B.
— END—
Contact
Marc D. Hamburg
402-346-1400

Berkshire's New Hire Bears Shades of Buffett

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904265504576566933743013152.html

By JASON ZWEIG And MARY PILON

The second investment manager Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has tapped as an heir apparent to Warren Buffett is a straight-shooter who, like the billionaire investor, brings along a philanthropic bent and a fondness for basic businesses.

Richard "Ted" Weschler, who on Monday was hired to manage a slice of Berkshire's vast investment portfolio, runs his $2 billion Peninsula Capital Advisors out of a small office that he shares with a receptionist and one analyst in a pedestrian mall in downtown Charlottesville, Va., upstairs from the New Dominion Bookshop.

There, Mr. Weschler takes a "total immersion" approach to analyzing companies, "educating himself on every available bit of public information and then digging in much deeper with management and people throughout the industry," according to Jimmy Wheat, who says he was one of the original investors in the Peninsula fund.

Mr. Wheat, a former partner at buyout firm Riverfront Partners who now is a private investor in Richmond, Va., adds: "There's very little emotion in his investment decisions, and I don't think you'll see working for Warren Buffett going to his head, either."

Mr. Weschler has so carefully cultivated a low profile that many professional investors and hedge-fund consultants had never heard of him until this week. He also shares Mr. Buffett's preference for simple businesses. In 2001, when he was a senior executive at the Charlottesville private investment firm Quad-C, Mr. Weschler pushed for a buyout of Huddle House, a chain of family restaurants in the southeastern U.S. Alongside Riverfront Partners, Quad-C paid about $40 million for Huddle House. The two firms sold Huddle House in 2006 for roughly $110 million, recalls Mr. Wheat.

Mr. Weschler's fund, which launched in January 2000 near the peak of the Internet bubble, held positions in nine stocks as of June 30, according to CapitalIQ, a financial-data provider. Peninsula's largest disclosed position was a stake in DirecTV Group Inc. The firm also had hioldings in Liberty Media Corp., coupon company Valassis Communications Inc., Cincinnati Bell Inc., FiberTower Corp., Cogent Communications Inc. and dialysis provider DaVita Inc.

Robert Johnson, senior managing director at the CFA Institute in Charlottesville, knows Mr. Weschler through a local running group. "When you meet Ted, you just know right away that he's a straight shooter and you can trust him," Mr. Johnson says. "Ted's also incredibly hard-working, and the hours that he puts in are above and beyond—14 hours might be kind of a light work day. Being able to train for a marathon while working those hours shows his discipline. I think that kind of dedication and perseverance carries over to other areas of his life." According to the Boston Marathon website, Richard T. Weschler ran that race three times, most recently in 2009; Mr. Weschler's best finish was 8,982nd out of 20,348 in 2009.

"I've never known anybody in business who has as high ethical standards as Ted Weschler," says Mr. Wheat, the private investor. "Regardless of how legal something may be, he always gives it what he calls 'the gut check'."

Unlike many investors, whose experience is limited to analyzing stocks on paper, Mr. Weschler has also helped operate businesses. Originally from Erie, Pa., Mr. Weschler formerly worked as the assistant to Peter Grace, the notoriously tough chief executive of W.R. Grace & Co. who died in 1995. Attracted by the conglomerate's rich assets after it filed for bankruptcy protection 2001, Mr. Weschler's fund bought more than 5% of W.R. Grace's stock at an average cost of around $2 a share, according to SEC filings and Mr. Wheat. It closed on Monday at $34.29 a share.

Mr. Weschler has told his fund's limited partners, says one investor who spoke with him Monday, that the fund's the majority of the fund's assets will be distributed pro-rata to partners by year's end. A few smaller or less-liquid holdings may be sold. People familiar with the matter estimate that Mr. Weschler holds 30% to 40% of the fund's assets and say that he has consistently reinvested most of his gains.

In a recent letter to investors, says a partner in the fund, Mr. Weschler credited Mr. Buffett for inspiring much of his own investment success.

Another interest Messrs. Buffett and Weschler share is philanthropy. Mr. Weschler and his wife, Sheila, have donated to several local Charlottesville charities, including the Building Goodness Foundation. The group is focused on the construction of community buildings, such as emergency shelters in disaster areas or community centers in parts of the developing world, says Allison Scholl, the foundation's director of resource development.

The Weschlers donated last year to the construction of a trade school in Haiti, Ms. Scholl says, and building at the site will take off this December. They've been long-term donors to the foundation. "They've been wonderfully supportive," Ms. Scholl said.

Messrs. Buffett and Weschler are both donors to Planned Parenthood. Mr. and Mrs. Weschler made a $45,000 gift to Planned Parenthood, according to the group's 2010 annual report, with $25,000 dedicated to public policy initiatives and $20,000 for affiliate-wide support.

Over the past two years, Mr. Weschler paid nearly $5 million for two meals with Mr. Buffett as part of a charity auction. Aside from those meals with Mr. Buffett, Mr. Weschler often dines with representatives of the nonprofits he donates to. Last week, he lunched with Dan Rosensweig, an executive director for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville.

"We were focused on Habitat the whole time," Mr. Rosensweig says of Mr. Weschler, who has been a donor for years. "He was asking questions about what we were doing and what he could do to help. I've never had a conversation with anyone about our business model and have it grasped so quickly as when I was talking to him."

The Weschlers also contributed to Children, Youth & Family Services, a locally based nonprofit group that addresses poverty, abuse, child-care quality and adolescent runaways. The couple has made numerous annual gifts to the group and last year made a gift toward the nonprofit's capital campaign to purchase a new building.

At the end of 2009, Mr. Weschler and another individual spearheaded a campaign aimed at getting younger donors to give for the Martha Jefferson Hospital Foundation, says Ray Mishler, a vice president with group. Mr. Weschler helped match contributions to the drive and corralled younger donors, Mr. Mishler says. The effort raised $2.5 million toward the $52 million campaign.

"If you look around this community, their fingerprints are all over lots of organizations," Mr. Mishler says. "They're as genuine as they are generous."

In recent years, Mr. Weschler has made several donations to Republicans and Democrats, according to OpenSecrets.org, a site that tracks political contributions.

In 2010, Mr. Weschler gave $10,000 each to the Democratic Party of Virginia and the Republican State Committee of Delaware, according to OpenSecrets. In 2009, he gave to Michael Castle, a former Republican governor of Delaware and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the site. That same year, he gave to Robert Wittman, a Republican representative for Virginia's 1st congressional district and Tom Perriello, a former Democratic representative of Virgina's 5th congressional district, according to the site.