In his inaugural shareholder letter, Berkshire Hathaway's new CEO, Greg Abel, has outlined the investment strategy for the post-Buffett era. He identified four companies—Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Moody's—as the conglomerate's "core holdings," suggesting these positions will be maintained for the long term with minimal likelihood of reduction. Abel stated that these four businesses are entities Berkshire "fully understands, highly regards their management, and expects to deliver compounding growth over decades," explicitly indicating that trading activity for these holdings will be "limited." Data shows that these four stocks collectively account for over half of Berkshire's approximately $300 billion equity portfolio. When combined with the roughly $35 billion stake in five Japanese trading companies, these nine core stocks represent two-thirds of the total portfolio. Notably absent from this core holdings list are Bank of America and Chevron, which are among Berkshire's top five largest positions. Furthermore, Abel did not specify who will be responsible for day-to-day stock investment decisions, leaving significant uncertainty regarding the future direction of Berkshire's investment strategy.

The concept of these four "permanent holdings" is underpinned by their exceptionally low cost basis. Coca-Cola and American Express have been held by Berkshire for over 40 years, while the stake in Moody's has been held for more than 20 years. These stocks have long been viewed by the market as classic "permanent holdings," partly due to their minimal carrying cost. For example, Berkshire's average purchase price for Coca-Cola in the late 1980s was approximately $3 per share; the stock closed at a record high of $81.56 last Friday. The Apple position has been held for about a decade, with Berkshire's average cost around $27 per share—roughly one-tenth of the current stock price of $264. It is noteworthy that the Apple stake had previously undergone significant reduction. Over recent years, Warren Buffett had cumulatively sold about 80% of the position from its peak, holding 227 million shares by the end of 2025. Abel's latest comments imply that further reductions of the Apple stake are unlikely. Analysis from Barron's suggests that when selling Apple shares, Berkshire appeared to prioritize selling lots with higher cost bases to mitigate the tax burden associated with the substantial sales in 2024.

The exclusion of Bank of America and Chevron from the core holdings list has drawn market attention. Data indicates that over the past 18 months, Berkshire has reduced its Bank of America stake by about half to 517 million shares, with a corresponding market value of approximately $28 billion; the Chevron stake is valued at around $20 billion. In his letter, Abel mentioned that Berkshire holds "meaningful positions" in a "small number of other companies," where capital allocation will be "more dynamic," and these positions could potentially be elevated to core holdings in the future. This statement leaves room for interpretation but also indicates that these two stocks currently remain under observation rather than being firmly locked in.

Questions remain regarding the management structure of the investment portfolio, sparking discussion about Abel's role. Abel clearly stated that the "ultimate responsibility for investment decisions rests with me as CEO" and revealed that Buffett will still work five days a week in the office, being "available for consultation" on capital allocation, including stock investments. However, Abel himself has no portfolio management experience and must also oversee more than 50 subsidiaries within the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate. At the investment manager level, Ted Weschler, who has been an investment manager at Berkshire since 2012, will continue to manage approximately 6% of the portfolio, a scale consistent with the past. This arrangement contrasts notably with Berkshire's public statement in 2011 when Weschler was hired, which indicated that after Buffett was no longer CEO, Todd (Combs) and Ted would likely be responsible for managing the entire stock and bond portfolio, possibly with the assistance of an additional manager. The other investment manager, Todd Combs, left Berkshire in December last year to take an investment role at JPMorgan Chase. Barron's points out that Berkshire currently lacks a dedicated manager responsible for the day-to-day management of the overall portfolio. Combined with Abel's characterization of "permanent holdings," some observers believe that new stock investments may no longer be a primary source of value creation for Berkshire in the future, a significant shift for a company whose foundation was built early on through successful equity investing.