While many well-known investors have made plenty of investments during this coronavirus pandemic, the world’s most famous investors in the world have been relatively quiet. Warren Buffett hasn’t made too many major moves over the past couple of months despite his growing cash position. However, it seems that the oracle from Omaha has decided to increase his exposure to several overseas companies.
In particular, Buffett has increased his exposure to a few Japanese blue-chip stocks. This includes giants like Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, Itochu, and Marubeni. While Berkshire hasn’t said exactly how many shares it bought, it’s estimated that Buffett bought around $6 billion in total equity between the five Japanese blue-chip stocks.
While Mitsubishi is known as a Japanese automobile brand, the holding company itself is more than just a car company. All five stocks that Buffett invested in are often referred to as trading companies, meaning they all own stakes in a variety of other industries as well, including energy, mining, retail, and more.
“I am delighted to have Berkshire Hathaway participate in the future of Japan and the five companies we have chosen for investment,” said Warren Buffett in an official statement. He went on to add that these five companies “have many joint ventures throughout the world and are likely to have more of these partnerships.”
All five companies shot up by around 5% in response to the news. While known well known by American investors, these Japanese companies have long, established histories, with some going back centuries. In many ways, they are considered to be the top blue-chip stocks in Japan. Buffett has previously expressed that he’s willing to expand his stake in these five companies to around 10% in total.
Besides this announcement, Buffett has done relatively little during this pandemic. For the past year or so, his pile of cash has been steadily growing amidst the lack of affordable deals. At the moment, Berkshire’s cash position is sitting at around $147 billion, up from the $137 billion seen from the first quarter. During high-growth periods in the market, most potential deals receive plenty of attention from institutional investors willing to pay high premiums, something that doesn’t align with Buffett’s value investing philosophy.
While many had expected that Buffett would go on a buying spree during this pandemic situation, he’s done exactly the opposite, staying relatively to himself for the most part. He has dumped most of his stake in the various airline companies that he’s owned, but he hasn’t made any major investments for the most part. The biggest deal he’s made recently was to buy out dominion Energy, a $9.7 billion midstream energy company back when the stock was relatively cheap. Energy companies are still trading extraordinarily cheaply in general, due in no small part to the collapse in oil prices earlier this year. However, it’s a deal that’s still relatively small fry for the legendary investor.
Other notable investments Buffett has made recently include buying shares in gold mining stocks, although he has kept his initial position quite small as well.