Bretton Capital Management, an investment management company, released “Bretton Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The market is experiencing a period of high returns, with two consecutive years of around 25% returns and 15 years of mid-teens returns, prompting investors to be cautious. The average stock market return is around 9-10% per year, historically, based on corporate earnings growth and dividends and buybacks. The 20 companies the fund owns are well-positioned and expected to perform well. Against this backdrop, in the fourth quarter, the fund returned -0.98% compared to 2.41% return for the S&P 500. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Bretton Fund emphasized stocks such as Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B). Incorporated in 1998, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) engages in insurance, freight rail transportation, and utility businesses. The one-month return of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) was 4.84%, and its shares gained 17.98% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On February 18, 2025, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) stock closed at $482.82 per share with a market capitalization of $1.042 trillion.
Bretton Fund stated the following regarding Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) is a portfolio of businesses that has some similarities to the Bretton portfolio: Berkshire owns a large western railroad (BNSF), a direct-to-consumer auto insurer (GEICO), and has a large position in American Express. There are also a handful of differences: Berkshire has large positions in Apple and Occidental Petroleum, and its two largest operating divisions are a regulated electric utility (now known as Berkshire Hathaway Energy, BHE) and a reinsurance company. BHE struggled for several years, squeezed between the emergence of lower-cost distributed renewables such as rooftop solar panels and a challenging regulatory landscape. Utilities had a resurgence last year as prospects for AI data centers with enormous electricity needs caused investors to reconsider their views of traditional power infrastructure. Meanwhile, the reinsurance business enjoyed higher interest rates: insurance policies are paid up front even as claims occur over time, so higher rates make this “float” more valuable. Berkshire’s share price increased 25%.”
A team of insurance professionals in a boardroom overlooking a city skyline.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) is in 15th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 120 hedge fund portfolios held Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) at the end of the third quarter which was 120 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article we discussed Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B) and shared the list of highest-priced stocks. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.