Monday, May 10, 2010

Berkshire Hathaway Poor Disclosure on Foreign Bonds

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A; BRK.B) Warren Buffet’s wealth creation machine issued an earnings release for Q1. The release refers investors to the 10Q which has more comprehensive information.

The document does have a few tidbits which make you think.

Specifically Item #2 of the MD&A of financial condition and results relating to insurance investment income indicates that some $11 billion or approximately 33% of fixed maturity investments were invested in foreign governments.

No further information. The $11 Billion just hangs there. No break down on which country, length of maturity, foreign exchange risks if any. The same item explains that US government debt is “AAA” and state and municipal debt including the foreign debt is “AA”. Given that we are all worried about the Euro some more disclosure would have been nice.

Disclosure : No position in this stock