Berkshire Hathaway’s operating profit fell by 14% in the first quarter of the year, while its cash holdings reached a record high. During the Berkshire shareholder meeting, a question was raised to CEO Warren Buffett and insurance head Ajit Jain regarding private-equity firms’ increasing involvement in the insurance sector. Ajit Jain noted that private-equity firms such as Blackstone, Apollo, and KKR have been aggressively expanding into insurance, thereby increasing risk in the industry. “There’s no question that private-equity firms have entered this space, and we are no longer competitive,” Jain stated. “In the last three or four years, I don’t think we’ve done a single deal,” he added, highlighting the competitive challenge posed by these firms.
