New England Asset Management (NEAM), a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, significantly rebalanced its $863 million portfolio in the June-ended quarter, exiting concentrated AI-infrastructure bets for broad-market exposure.
NEAM liquidated 97 percent of its Broadcom position, cutting 6,605 shares to near zero. The firm also trimmed Alphabet Class A shares (GOOGL) by 48 percent. Alphabet trades at $347.68.
Profit-taking on multiyear gains likely drove the sales, but valuation concerns matter too. The Shiller Price-to-Earnings Ratio sits near its second-highest level in 156 years, inflated by the AI infrastructure spending boom.
Instead, NEAM deployed $149 million—17.3 percent of assets—into S&P 500 index funds. It bought $76.1 million of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and $73.2 million of Vanguard's VOO. The S&P 500 index closed at $7,819.
The move mirrors Warren Buffett's long-standing advice: retail investors should favor low-cost broad-market index funds over individual stock picks. Crestmont Research data support this approach—the S&P 500 has delivered positive returns over every 20-year rolling period since 1900, including dividends.
NEAM became a Berkshire subsidiary in December 1998 when Berkshire acquired reinsurance firm General Re for $22 billion in stock. The deal included General Re's specialty investment unit.
