Greg Abel has made Japan one of Berkshire Hathaway’s biggest investment stories after Warren Buffett retired as chief executive on Dec. 31. As of the closing bell on April 17, Abel had more than $43 billion of Berkshire’s assets invested in Japanese stocks.
The move is the clearest sign yet of how Abel is shaping Berkshire’s next chapter. He is responsible for the conglomerate’s day-to-day operations, including oversight of its $322 billion investment portfolio, and his early choices show he is not breaking sharply with Buffett’s playbook. Both men have long favored value above all else, and Abel’s first major purchases as CEO were overseas companies rather than a bold domestic reset.
In mid-March, Abel added to Berkshire’s existing stakes in Itochu, Marubeni and Sumitomo. Days later, he opened a $1.8 billion position in the insurer Tokio Marine, extending a Japanese bet that began under his watch years earlier. Abel was instrumental in Berkshire’s initial and subsequent investments in the trading houses in 2019, and those holdings now also include Mitsubishi and Mitsui.
The appeal has been straightforward. The six companies known as sogo shosha have consistently traded at high-single-digit to low-double-digit price-to-earnings ratios, while all of them are paying dividends to shareholders. For an investor who prizes price discipline, the case is easy to make. Buffett repeatedly told investors to never bet against America, but Berkshire has also been a net seller of equities in the 13 quarters leading up to his retirement, a reminder that the company’s cash has been looking harder outside the U.S. market than at home.
Berkshire is one of Wall Street’s trillion-dollar companies, and Buffett remains chairman of the board even after stepping down as chief executive. That leaves Abel with the daily reins and a portfolio that is already showing where he intends to lean: on businesses he can buy at a price that still leaves room for value.