Month: August 2023

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Adds Louis Bidmead as Head of Transactional Liability Insurance for Asia and the Middle East

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance has named Louis Bidmead as Head of Transactional Liability Insurance for Asia and the Middle East. In this role he will work with BHSI’s global transactional liability team to provide BHSI’s comprehensive line of coverages to manage the risks of mergers, acquisitions, and other corporate transactions. He will report to Scotland Walsh-Riddle, Head of Executive & Professional Liability for Asia, BHSI.

“BHSI continues to expand our transactional liability portfolio in Singapore and throughout Asia and the Middle East,” said Scotland. “Louis has extensive knowledge of the intricacies of M&A transactions, and I am excited to have him leading our team as we deliver tailored and timely solutions for customers.”

Louis comes to BHSI with 14 years of experience as both a lawyer specializing in M&A transactions and corporate advisory at major law firms and as a senior underwriter, providing warranty & indemnity insurance solutions at a global insurer. He is based in Singapore.

© 2023 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Energy

Berkshire Hathaway Energy Gets Big Benefits From Western Energy Imbalance Market

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s PacifiCorp and NV Energy received combined benefits of $83.65 million from their participation in the Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) during the second quarter of 2023.

In total, the WEIM has generated $798.7 million in benefits in the first half of 2023, and the real-time energy market’s $379.91 million in second-quarter results is attributed to the growing number of participants providing diversity and economical energy transfers replacing more expensive generation.

The WEIM is designed to enable participating entities to buy and sell power close to the time electricity is consumed. With state-of-the art technology, the market finds and delivers lowest-cost resources to meet immediate power needs and manages congestion on transmission lines to maintain grid reliability. It has set a new record of $4.2 billion in cumulative benefits since the market was launched in late 2014.

The WEIM also provides system operators real-time visibility across neighboring grids, resulting in more efficient balancing of supply and demand.

Since 2020, the number of Western EIM participants has doubled to 22, further diversifying energy resources while improving transmission efficiencies and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Western Area Power Administration Desert Southwest region, El Paso Electric and AVANGRID Renewables are the WEIM’s newest entities, joining in April 2023. The WEIM now includes portions of Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Texas and extends to the border with Canada.

The environmental benefits of the market are also noteworthy. With more variable resources such as solar and wind on the grid, excess clean power would typically tend to be curtailed and go unused to keep the grid from becoming overloaded. With greater regional coordination enabled by the WEIM, that clean power can be moved across a large geographic area to displace other resources.

Since 2014, greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by more than 878,000 metric tons, or the equivalent of taking almost 184,000 passenger cars off the road for one year.

Additionally, grid operators have more resource options for balancing supply and demand, which is particularly helpful during summer evenings when electricity use remains high but solar generation is declining.

© 2023 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Financials

Berkshire Earnings Strong, as Buybacks Continue

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway’s overall operating earnings for Q2 2023 were a strong $10.043 billion, representing a solid increase from the second quarter of 2022, which recorded operating earnings of $9.417 billion. The 6.6 percent rise in earnings came as the conglomerate’s cash position grew to just over $147 billion, which is up from 130.6 billion in Q1 2023.

Insurance-underwriting was particularly strong with earnings 1,247 billion in Q2 2023, as compared to $715 million in Q2 2022.
At June 30, 2023, insurance float was approximately $166 billion, an increase of approximately $2 billion from yearend 2022.

Berkshire Hathaway continued its stock buybacks with approximately $1.4 billion used to repurchase Berkshire shares during the second quarter of 2023. This brings the six-month total share repurchases to $5.8 billion.

© 2023 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkadia

Berkadia Appoints Andy Wimsatt Senior Managing Director and Head of Berkadia Hotels & Hospitality

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkadia, Berkshire Hathaway’s joint venture with Jefferies Financial Group, named Andy Wimsatt Senior Managing Director and Head of Berkadia Hotels & Hospitality.

Wimsatt will be based in the DC Metro office and will report to EVP – Head of Capital Markets and Production Hilary Provinse. Wimsatt joined Berkadia on July 17.

“We’re thrilled to have Andy join Berkadia and lead the Hotels & Hospitality team. Andy brings decades of expertise and leadership experience in the hospitality sector, which will augment and complement Berkadia’s national platform of institutional, client-driven investment advisors, and mortgage bankers,” Provinse said. “Over the last three years, the team has strategically grown through the addition of senior hotel talent from other leading capital markets platforms.”

Prior to joining Berkadia, Wimsatt served as Managing Director at Eastdil Secured, where he focused on hotel equity and debt placement services. Over the course of his 30-year career, he has been involved in over $15 billion in transaction volume.

“Berkadia is well known for its unrivaled culture, and I am incredibly excited to be a part of the team,” Wimsatt said. “I’m joining an outstanding group of professionals who share a commitment to delivering exceptional client service while continuously expanding our footprint.”

Berkadia Hotels & Hospitality combines best-in-industry innovation, knowledge, and experience with the most comprehensive suite of products and services, backed by relentless customer service and support to empower clients to capitalize on the right opportunities at the greatest value. The group serves clients across the country, offering a full set of advisory, investment sales, underwriting and loan origination services and products including Life Company, Proprietary Bridge Lending and Capital Markets Advisory Services.

About Berkadia

Founded in 2009 as a 50/50 joint venture between Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia National Corporation (now known as Jefferies Financial Group), Berkadia is a third-party commercial mortgage servicer, as well as an approved lender for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD/FHA.
The company is among the top Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae multifamily lenders.

Berkadia owes its origins to GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corporation, which was acquired in 2009 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Five Mile Capital Partners LLC, and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. Christened Capmark Financial, the company had $10 billion of originations in 2008 and a servicing portfolio of more than $360 billion before running into bankruptcy in October 2009.

In a deal approved by the bankruptcy court, Capmark sold its mortgage loan and servicing to the newly formed Berkadia in a deal worth $515 million.

The deal brought Berkshire into the heart of the commercial loan serving business, and the company has one of the largest commercial real estate servicing portfolios.

© 2023 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Categories
BNSF

BNSF & BLET Agree on Paid Sick Leave & Schedules

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and BNSF Railway have reached a system-wide agreement this week that will significantly benefit locomotive engineers at BNSF. The tentative agreement includes up to eight paid sick leave days and grants access to scheduled time off in an effort to improve the quality of work-life balance for the engineers.

This breakthrough tentative agreement comes after several months of negotiations, and pending ratification by BLET’s members at BNSF, it is expected to bring positive changes to both the professional and personal lives of locomotive engineers. The agreement will allow for more predictable scheduling and enable engineers to take paid sick leave without any penalty. These enhancements will not only contribute to a more consistent service for BNSF’s customers but also aid in the recruitment and retention of employees.

Furthermore, the agreement introduces work/rest options that can be implemented in every pool. Locomotive engineers will have the opportunity to earn an “Earned Day Off” (EDO) quarterly. Additionally, all BLET-represented engineers at BNSF will be provided individual paid sick days.

Approximately 7,500 BLET members at BNSF will receive detailed information about the tentative agreement this week, and a ratification vote is scheduled for September.

The cooperation between BLET and BNSF marks an important step forward in supporting the well-being and satisfaction of locomotive engineers, ensuring a more balanced and efficient work environment.

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.