Labitan.沃伦.巴菲特文集(EN)——The_Warren_Buffett_Bu(7)

many friends who belonged to partnerships that Charlie and I ran in the 1960's. We could not be more motivated to do our best.

Honesty

We feel that you, as owners, are entitled to the same sort of reporting by your manager as we feel is owed to us at Berkshire Hathaway by managers of our business units. Obviously, the degree of detail must be different, particularly where information would be useful to a business competitor or the like. But the general scope, balance, and level of candor should be similar. We don’t expect a public relations document when our operating managers tell us what is going on, and we don’t feel you should receive such a document.

We believe that our formula - the purchase at sensible prices of businesses that have good underlying economics and are run by honest and able people - is certain to produce reasonable success. We expect, therefore, to keep on doing well.

Charlie Munger

Charlie Munger and I can attain our long-standing goal of increasing Berkshire's per-share intrinsic value at an average annual rate of 15%. We have not retreated from this goal. But we again emphasize, that the growth in our capital base makes 15% an ever-more difficult target to hit. What we have going for us is a growing collection of good-sized operating businesses that possess economic characteristics ranging from good to terrific, run by managers whose performance ranges from terrific to terrific. You need have no worries about this group. The capital-allocation work that Charlie and I do at the parent company, using the funds that our managers deliver to us, has a less certain outcome: It is not easy to find new businesses and managers comparable to those we have.

My pal Charlie has always emphasized the study of mistakes rather than successes, both in business and other aspects of life. He does so in the spirit of the man who said: “All I want to know is where I’m going to die so I’ll never go there.” You’ll immediately see why we make a good team: Charlie likes to study errors and I have generated ample material for him, particularly in our textile and insurance businesses. Irrespective of titles, Charlie and I work as partners in managing all controlled companies. We enjoy our work as managing partners. And we enjoy having you as our financial partners.

Charlie is broader in his interests than I am. In Berkshire’s investments, Charlie and I have employed the principles taught by Dave Dodd and Ben Graham. Our prosperity is the fruit of their intellectual tree. At Berkshire, our managers will continue to earn extraordinary returns from what appear to be ordinary businesses. These managers look for ways to deploy their earnings advantageously in their businesses. What's left, they will send to Charlie and me. We then try to use the funds in ways that build per-share intrinsic value. Our goal is to acquire either part or all of businesses that we believe we understand, that have good, sustainable underlying economics, and that are run by managers whom we like, admire and trust.