Markets

Animation: Berkshire Hathaway’s Holdings Since 1994

Published

8 months ago

October 13, 2022

Sjoerd Tilmans

Featured Creator

Article/Editing:

Carmen Ang

Visualizing Berkshire Hathaway’s Holdings Since 1994

If you’re a long-time follower of Visual Capitalist, then you probably know that we’re big fans of Warren Buffett.

We’ve written numerous articles about the world-famous investor, covering everything from his early years to his most famous quotes. As one of the wealthiest and most influential investors in the world, he’s an important market player to keep track of.

As our latest addition to the Warren Buffett archives, this animated video by Sjoerd Tilmans highlights three decades of Warren Buffett’s investments. It shows what his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, has been invested in since 1994, using data from the company’s financial reports.

A Rocky Start: The Early Years of Berkshire Hathaway

Before becoming the multinational conglomerate that it is today, Berkshire Hathaway was once a massive (yet struggling) textile company in Rhode Island.

Buffett first invested in the company in the late 1950s, when the company’s shares were declining. By 1964, things still hadn’t picked up for the company, and Buffett was ready to cut his losses and move on.

But when industrialist Seabury Stanton, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the time, offered to buy Buffett out for less than the price he’d originally promised, things got interesting. Buffett was so furious by the offer that instead of selling his shares, he bought more, eventually taking control of the company and letting Stanton go.

The textile company never recovered, and Berkshire Hathaway eventually became Buffett’s holding company for other investments. He estimates that his investment in Berkshire Hathaway ultimately cost him $200 billion.

A Brighter Future: Berkshire Hathaway Now

Despite its tumultuous past, Berkshire Hathaway is now associated with tremendous financial success. In 2021, the conglomerate generated over $276 billion in total revenue.

And Buffett has about a 38% stake in the company, which means he’s one of the wealthiest people on the planet. As of today’s publication date, his net worth sits at $93.3 billion.

In the long run, Berkshire Hathaway has outperformed the market by a landslide. Here’s a look at the holding company’s compounded annual gain, and overall gain, compared to the S&P 500:

	Berkshire Hathaway	S&P 500
Compounded Annual Gain (1965-2021)	20.1%	10.5%
Overall Gain (1964-2021)	3,641,613%	30,209%

Note: These figures are from Berkshire Hathaway’s (BH) Annual Report. BH’s market value is after-tax, and S&P 500 is pre-tax, including dividends.

According to the conglomerate’s website, it owns 62 different companies outright, including big names like GEICO, Dairy Queen, Kraft Heinz, and Duracell, and also has large investments in companies like Apple, Wells Fargo, and Coca-Cola.

However, as the graphic above indicates, the exact composition of its portfolio has certainly evolved over the years. As of June 2022, here’s a breakdown of Berkshire Hathaway Holdings:

Company	Value (Millions)	% of Portfolio
Apple	$122,337	40%
American Express	$21,016	7%
Bank of America	$31,444	10%
Coca-Cola	$25,164	8%
Chevron	$23,373	8%
Kraft Foods	$12,419	4%
Other	$71,559	23%

It’s a well-balanced portfolio of big tech, banks, and consumer goods. Despite being 92 years old, Buffett remains the chairman and CEO of the conglomerate.

As for future succession plans, Greg Abel has been selected as the successor to Buffett as CEO, while the the Guardian has reported that Buffett’s oldest son Howard is expected to take over as non-executive chair when his father is no longer in charge.

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Markets

Mapped: The Growth in House Prices by Country

Global house prices were resilient in 2022, rising 6%. We compare nominal and real price growth by country as interest rates surged.

Published

17 hours ago

June 9, 2023

Dorothy Neufeld

Mapped: The Growth in House Prices by Country

This was originally posted on Advisor Channel. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on financial markets that help advisors and their clients.

Global housing prices rose an average of 6% annually, between Q4 2021 and Q4 2022.

In real terms that take inflation into account, prices actually fell 2% for the first decline in 12 years. Despite a surge in interest rates and mortgage costs, housing markets were noticeably stable. Real prices remain 7% above pre-pandemic levels.

In this graphic, we show the change in residential property prices with data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

The Growth in House Prices, Ranked

The following dataset from the BIS covers nominal and real house price growth across 58 countries and regions as of the fourth quarter of 2022:

Price Growth Rank	Country / Region	Nominal Year-over-Year Change (%)	Real Year-over-Year Change (%)
1	🇹🇷 Türkiye	167.9	51.0
2	🇷🇸 Serbia	23.1	7.0
3	🇷🇺 Russia	23.1	9.7
4	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	20.6	1.0
5	🇮🇸 Iceland	20.3	9.9
6	🇭🇷 Croatia	17.3	3.6
7	🇪🇪 Estonia	16.9	-3.0
8	🇮🇱 Israel	16.8	11.0
9	🇭🇺 Hungary	16.5	-5.1
10	🇱🇹 Lithuania	16.0	-5.5
11	🇸🇮 Slovenia	15.4	4.2
12	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	13.4	-3.2
13	🇬🇷 Greece	12.2	3.7
14	🇵🇹 Portugal	11.3	1.3
15	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	10.0	-0.7
16	🇸🇰 Slovak Republic	9.7	-4.8
17	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	9.6	2.9
18	🇵🇱 Poland	9.3	-6.9
19	🇱🇻 Latvia	9.1	-10.2
20	🇸🇬 Singapore	8.6	1.9
21	🇮🇪 Ireland	8.6	-0.2
22	🇨🇱 Chile	8.2	-3.0
23	🇯🇵 Japan	7.9	3.9
24	🇲🇽 Mexico	7.9	-0.1
25	🇵🇭 Philippines	7.7	-0.2
26	🇺🇸 United States	7.1	0.0
27	🇨🇿 Czechia	6.9	-7.6
28	🇷🇴 Romania	6.7	-7.5
29	🇲🇹 Malta	6.3	-0.7
30	🇨🇾 Cyprus	6.3	-2.9
31	🇨🇴 Colombia	6.3	-5.6
32	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	5.6	-0.5
33	🇪🇸 Spain	5.5	-1.1
34	🇨🇭 Switzerland	5.4	2.4
35	🇳🇱 Netherlands	5.4	-5.3
36	🇦🇹 Austria	5.2	-4.8
37	🇫🇷 France	4.8	-1.2
38	🇧🇪 Belgium	4.7	-5.7
39	🇹🇭 Thailand	4.7	-1.1
40	🇿🇦 South Africa	3.1	-4.0
41	🇮🇳 India	2.8	-3.1
42	🇮🇹 Italy	2.8	-8.0
43	🇳🇴 Norway	2.6	-3.8
44	🇮🇩 Indonesia	2.0	-3.4
45	🇵🇪 Peru	1.5	-6.3
46	🇲🇾 Malaysia	1.2	-2.6
47	🇰🇷 South Korea	-0.1	-5.0
48	🇲🇦 Morocco	-0.1	-7.7
49	🇧🇷 Brazil	-0.1	-5.8
50	🇫🇮 Finland	-2.3	-10.2
51	🇩🇰 Denmark	-2.4	-10.6
52	🇦🇺 Australia	-3.2	-10.2
53	🇩🇪 Germany	-3.6	-12.1
54	🇸🇪 Sweden	-3.7	-13.7
55	🇨🇳 China	-3.7	-5.4
56	🇨🇦 Canada	-3.8	-9.8
57	🇳🇿 New Zealand	-10.4	-16.5
58	🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR	-13.5	-15.1

Türkiye’s property prices jumped the highest globally, at nearly 168% amid soaring inflation.

Real estate demand has increased alongside declining interest rates. The government drastically cut interest rates from 19% in late 2021 to 8.5% to support a weakening economy.

Many European countries saw some of the highest price growth in nominal terms. A strong labor market and low interest rates pushed up prices, even as mortgage rates broadly doubled across the continent. For real price growth, most countries were in negative territory—notably Sweden, Germany, and Denmark.

Nominal U.S. housing prices grew just over 7%, while real price growth halted to 0%. Prices have remained elevated given the stubbornly low supply of inventory. In fact, residential prices remain 45% above pre-pandemic levels.

How Do Interest Rates Impact Property Markets?

Global house prices boomed during the pandemic as central banks cut interest rates to prop up economies.

Now, rates have returned to levels last seen before the Global Financial Crisis. On average, rates have increased four percentage points in many major economies. Roughly three-quarters of the countries in the BIS dataset witnessed negative year-over-year real house price growth as of the fourth quarter of 2022.

Interest rates have a large impact on property prices. Cross-country evidence shows that for every one percentage point increase in real interest rates, the growth rate of housing prices tends to fall by about two percentage points.

When Will Housing Prices Fall?

The rise in U.S. interest rates has been counteracted by homeowners being reluctant to sell so they can keep their low mortgage rates. As a result, it is keeping inventory low and prices high. Homeowners can’t sell and keep their low mortgage rates unless they meet strict conditions on a new property.

Additionally, several other factors impact price dynamics. Construction costs, income growth, labor shortages, and population growth all play a role.

With a strong labor market continuing through 2023, stable incomes may help stave off prices from falling. On the other hand, buyers with floating-rate mortgages face steeper costs and may be unable to afford new rates. This could increase housing supply in the market, potentially leading to lower prices.