Wanted: A younger investment successor for Buffett

WARREN Buffett is looking for a new, and younger, chief investment officer to replace - himself.

The former second-in-line is simply too old, Mr Buffett said in his annual letter to shareholders on Thursday.

In the folksy, colloquial tone that his letters have become known for over the years, the so-called Oracle of Omaha said he would rather leave Berkshire's top investment job to someone who could occupy it for a long time.

Mr Louis Simpson, the 70-year-old chief executive of Geico, the Berkshire-owned insurance company, had been his successor to run investing.

Mr Buffett has three people who might replace him as Berkshire's chief executive.

However, the billionaire wears two hats and, as he put it in the report: 'We are not as well-prepared on the investment side of the business.'

The perfect candidate - perhaps more than one person will be hired - must be younger; Mr Buffett is 76. And he does not want somebody who can simply run a large portfolio of investments.

'There is far more to successful long-term investing than brains and performance that has recently been good,' he writes.

Still, he gave no indication that he was tiring of his duties at Berkshire.

'At 76, I feel terrific and, according to all measurable indicators, am in excellent health.

It's amazing what Cherry Coke and hamburgers will do for a fellow.'

Berkshire also disclosed its sizable new holdings in ConocoPhillips and Johnson & Johnson, and said it increased holdings in nearly every other company in which it owns a significant amount of stock, like Moody's, Wells Fargo, Procter & Gamble and American Express.

Its holdings in Wal-Mart and The Washington Post were unchanged from 2005.

Mr Buffett's letter left out the names of two companies in which Berkshire is busy buying shares. Its holdings in those companies already have a market value of US$1.9 billion (S$2.9 billion), he said.

'I could, of course, tell you their names. But then I would have to kill you.'

NEW YORK TIMES



STILL HALE AND HEARTY

'At 76, I feel terrific and, according to all measurable indicators, am in excellent health. It's amazing what Cherry Coke and hamburgers will do for a fellow.'
MR BUFFETT