Berkshire investors demanding improvements

Warren Buffett will face pressure to improve Berkshire Hathaway Inc's environmental and social policies as well as governance when he meets shareholders this weekend, in what investors say is a harbinger of what may come after the 91-year-old billionaire is no longer in charge.

Calpers, the largest U.S. public pension fund, and other investors are demanding that Berkshire install an independent chair to replace Buffett, and disclose more about how its dozens of businesses promote diversity and address climate risks and greenhouse emissions. Buffett would remain chief executive officer.

Still, these may not stand a high chance of success until Buffett himself steps aside. Buffett is 91.

“In a post-buffett world we may start to see a more aggressive shareholder base agitating for greater change,” said Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research in New York. “At this point, there is a high degree of deference to Warren Buffett.”

The proposals have drawn support from the influential proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services, and some support from investors including Norges Bank Investment Management and Neuberger Berman.

Berkshire, which opposes the proposals, has long resisted a revamp. It says its insurance, namesake energy and other operating businesses already address the investors' concerns, and that it's “unusually decentralized” business model means Buffett need not prescribe one-size-fits-all reporting requirements.

Buffett said last May it would be “asinine” to require reports from Berkshire's dozens of smaller companies.