Participants will arrive at the Chi Health Center auditorium on Saturday, May 6, 2023 at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
David Williams | Bloomberg | Getty Images
For decades, Warren Buffett’s “capitalist Woodstock,” the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, has attracted foreign investors travelling to Omaha, Nebraska, from thousands of miles away. This year, their international trips have new wrinkles.
Guangzhou Chinese investor Shin Jin wanted to make his second visit to Omaha in May this year, but was worried about international travel in the current political situation. In 2012, he poured half of his assets into Berkshire stocks. This has become one of the most profitable names in his portfolio.
“I really want to go to Omaha this year,” Jin said. “I admire Buffett and I’m very moved by him.”
A Chinese investor focused on Shanghai’s consumers, who didn’t want to name it, but attended the annual meeting three times, said the hostile political environment has hindered travel this year. Another Chinese shareholder said there are few third-party institutions organizing trips to Omaha this time. One shareholder in Jakarta, Indonesia, who attended last year, decided to stay at home, saying he was worried about “an unnecessary and unfounded issues with customs”.
This year’s meeting comes after President Donald Trump launched a world trade war early in his second term, strengthening political tensions between the United States and other countries. In particular, China has issued a risk alert to Chinese tourists traveling to the United States, citing the recent “deteriorating China-US trade relations and worsening US domestic security situation.”
“In recent years, we have noticed that the shareholder demographics are mostly international and very young shareholders are there for the first time.
The Berkshire annual gathering can attract as many as 40,000 people to Cornhusker state for unique opportunities to hear from his designated successor Greg Abel and Berkshire insurance chief Ajit Jain. Q&A sessions will be broadcast in English and Mandarin on CNBC and on the webcast.
Buffett, 94, has long recognized the growth of his international representative at his annual meeting. In fact, he and his partner Charlie Munger had special receptions for people traveling from outside North America. He ended the event as the number of foreign attendees increased.
“Our count increased to about 800 last year. It took me about two hours just to sign one item per person,” Buffett said in his annual letter in 2009.
– Additional report by Evelyn Cheng from CNBC.
