Agree, it seems T&T have not shot the lights out when investing the sums Buffett gave them...

It's good to remember that essentially all their period of fund management at Berkshire has been a single bull market. During such times, beating the index is very difficult and (more to the point) nearly impossible without taking large positions on the most fashionable things.

Though I have no data one way or the other, it's quite possible they are getting returns similar to an index without taking nearly as much risk of permanent capital loss. That would show up only a year after a big bear market, when good stuff comes all the way back but bad stuff doesn't.

It's remarkably how well a portfolio can do if you merely eliminate a bunch of the biggest losses, even if the rest are middle of the pack. But the interval of evaluation has to span a period that the blowups happen.

Jim