Imitating Buffett’s Style

Q Do any mutual funds mirror Berkshire Hathaway’s investment

style?

— D.G., online

A Be careful. Some people erroneously think of Warren Buffett’s company as a kind of mutual fund, since he owns stock in a bunch of companies, such as Wells Fargo, Kraft, Nike and ConocoPhillips. It’s true that we can buy and sell the same stocks Buffett does, but we can’t do so at the same time, as his moves are only revealed via occasional required filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission. More important, Buffett’s company is much more than its stocks. He owns dozens of entire companies, such as See’s Candies, Fruit of the Loom, Benjamin Moore, Dairy Queen and GEICO, and those can’t be duplicated. The company is also heavily involved in insurance.

That said, Buffett’s style isto seek out good values in great companies, and there are some fund managers out there with similar orientations, such as those who run the Fairholme (FAIRX) and Sequoia (SEQUX) funds. You might also just buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway itself, as we have, at The Motley Fool.

Q I want to move my Smith Barney account (with around 20 stocks) to a discount brokerage so that I can trade stocks inexpensively. Will I be able to simply have my portfolio transferred to the new brokerage en masse? Or will I have to sell everything, taking a hit on each transaction, and start from scratch with the new account?

— B.N., Charleston, S.C.

A Fear not — some simple paperwork will have your holdings transferred to the new brokerage without selling them and generating any capital gains.

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