Remember when value investors were agog and giddy? It was just two months ago, and it had nothing to do with the market, and everything to do with Berkshire Hathaway's
Below, we've compiled four top takeaways from the Berkshire meeting, as related by Motley Fool Inside Value research analyst Andy Louis-Charles.
1. Berkshire's corporate culture won't die; it'll multiply. Because of Berkshire's collection of wonderful managers, Buffett is confident that the company's culture will last far longer than he does. He advised the audience to build their own companies around the culture they want to cultivate.
2. Buffett has the secret to succession. While he still won't divulge the exact name of his current successor, we know that when the "NetJets situation" had to be cleaned up, Buffett called in "the Wolf." And around Berkshire these days, "the Wolf" answers to the name David Sokol.
3. Buffett is constantly looking at opportunity costs. In response to [Inside Value senior analyst] Joe Magyer's question on his desired rate of return, Buffett follows Dave Matthews' advice and settles for The Best of What's Around.
4. The best hedge against inflation is talent. As Buffett said: "Your money can be inflated away. Your talent cannot."
That last one is no throwaway. I talk to investors all the time who are really concerned with inflation, and who always seek some magic bullet -- be it gold, frankincense, or myrrh. But irreplaceable talent -- either your own, or that of the companies in which you invest -- is the ultimate hedge against inflation. Competitive advantages lead to large moats, which often mean pricing power. The ability to price goods and services on pace with inflation is, well, priceless.
