Omaha, Nebraska (Reuters) – The departure of Warren Buffett from the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate that he built for 60 years opens a new era for the group which will have to do without the vision of its emblematic leader to maintain the confidence of investors.

If the shareholders welcomed the choice of his successor in the person of the current vice-president Greg Abel, they also expressed concerns concerning the departure announced on Saturday of Warren Buffett which patiently built a conglomerate weighing $ 1.160 billion for 189 companies and 348 billion dollars in liquidity.

Berkshire Hathaway’s board of directors voted unanimously in favor of the appointment of Greg Abel to the post of director general in 2026, CNBC reported on Monday, while Warren Buffet will remain chairman of the board of directors.

“There was a bonus on Berkshire because of Buffett. Will people continue to see the group in the same way?” Summages Mark Malek, director of investments at Siebert.nxt.

On Monday, in electronic exchanges in a foreign out, the Berkshire Hathaway action fell by almost 2%.

The annualized return for Berkshire shareholders has practically doubled compared to that of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index under the direction of Warren Buffett.

But Greg Abel checks all the boxes to succeed in leading the group in the right direction: “It is the baby of Buffett, and he planned in a thoughtful and deliberate manner an ordered succession which does not disturb the value of the work of his life”, underlines Daniel Hanson, portfolio manager at Neuberger Berman. “I have all confidence in Greg’s leadership”.

“Abel will have to find the right medium between maintaining an environment similar to that of Buffett and printing his brand,” said Cathy Seifert, analyst at Cfra Research.

The future new director general is presented as someone who learns quickly, with his multiple experiences in many sectors such as aeronautics or jewelry.

Between Heritage and Personal Vision

Some analysts believe that Greg Abel could be more direct than Warren Buffett in the supervision of Berkshire’s subsidiaries after he declared during the annual general meeting and before the surprise announcement of Warren Buffett, even ignored by his vice-president, that he would be “more active” in the supervision of the group’s subsidiaries.

The conglomerate brings together many activities, from car insurance to real estate brokerage, including railways or distribution. Ajit Jain, vice-president, should continue to supervise the insurance activities of the conglomerate.

Greg Abel could also easily give in to companies, especially in sectors, knowing difficulties like the sale of Underwriters Applied in 2019 or that of press titles the following year.

And perhaps responding to the insistent requests of investors about the payment of a dividend, which Berkshire Hathaway has not done since 1967.

Rapid changes are nevertheless unlikely due to the size of Berkshire and its well -oiled operation: “Buffett has built an extraordinary machine. This is something that will resist the event test,” said Nate Garrison, director of investments at World Investment Advisors.

Several individual investors have stressed that Berkshire symbolized a slow enrichment, a trademark created by Warren Buffett.

“His biggest heritage is to have given investors much confidence in the fact that they can become rich, more slowly,” said Sameer Naik, who works in software in Omaha, Nebraska, seat of Berkshire Hathaway. “If you invest in the right companies you understand and invest over time, good things will happen.”

(Written by Jonathan Stempel, Suzanne McGee and Carolina Mandl; Bertrand de Meyer, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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