Securinvest Financial Planners

Key points

• 2008 has seen a major loss of wealth as the US sub-prime mortgage crisis turned into the worst global financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression.
• The global economic outlook for 2009 comes with much greater than normal uncertainty. Pressure to reduce debt levels means that there is a risk the economic slump could drag into 2010, but an unprecedented global policy response suggests that it’s more likely to see a gradual recovery become evident by the end of 2009.
• Further downside in equities and credit is possible in the first half of 2009 but both should end the year stronger than now. Having outperformed listed assets over the last year, unlisted assets may be relative underperformers over the year ahead.

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Warren E Buffett (born August 30, 1930) is an American investor, businessman, and philanthropist. Regarded as one of the worlds most successful investors, he has an estimated net worth of around $62billion. He was ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world during the first half of 2008.

Often called the "Oracle of Omaha," Buffett is noted for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth. He still lives in the same house in Omaha that he bought in 1958 and pays himself an annual salary of $100,000.

Buffett is a notable philanthropist and in 2006 he announced a plan to give away his fortune to charity, with 83% of it going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The following is an open letter to the New York Times in 2008 in relation to his views of the current global economic crisis

THE financial world is a mess, both in the United States and abroad. Its problems, moreover, have been leaking into the general economy, and the leaks are now turning into a gusher. In the near term, unemployment will rise, business activity will falter and headlines will continue to be scary.

So ... I’ve been buying American stocks. This is my personal account I’m talking about, in which I previously owned nothing but United States government bonds. (This description leaves aside my Berkshire Hathaway holdings, which are all committed to philanthropy.) If prices keep looking attractive, my non-Berkshire net worth will soon be 100 percent in United States equities.

Why?