Warren Buffett's four treasured investment companies

In the early 2000s Joe Brandon and Tad Montross really turned around General Re. In thirteen of the next fourteen years between 2003 and 2016 this part of Berkshire reported an underwriting profit – see Figure 10.6. It did so on a decreasing level of business: premiums fell from $8.25bn in 2003 to only $5.64bn in 2016 – see Figure 10.4.  In 2017 the data for General Re was subsumed within the Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group when Ajit Jain was put in charge of all insurance activities in early 2018.
The lower revenue also pushed down float from $23.65bn in 2003 to $17.70bn in 2016 – see Figure 10.5.  It seems that Joe, Tad and the rest of the team at General Re really were dedicated to Buffett’s philosophy of focusing only on profitable business even if that meant saying no to business, pithily summarised by Buffett as “size simply doesn’t count”.


Source: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Reports


Source: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Reports


Source: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Reports
While General Re held back its volume growth to become a “jewel” in Berkshire’s crown on account of its zero-cost float, Ajit Jain’s BH Reinsurance was powering ahead both in volume and in profitability. Its handful of
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