OMAHA, Nebraska — Warren Buffett says Berkshire Hathaway is considering investing in Canada.
“There is no offense in any way to putting money into Canada,” he told an arena packed with investors on Saturday. “In fact, we are currently considering something.”
The billionaire investor has bet on the country in the past. He previously took a roughly $300 million position in Home Capital Group, which investors took as a vote of confidence in the struggling Canadian mortgage underwriter.
The Oracle of Omaha said at its annual shareholder meeting that its recent investment in a Japanese trading company was an unavoidable exception and that it has no plans to make big bets outside the United States. But Buffett noted the similarities between Canadian and U.S. business operations.
“There are a lot of countries that we just don’t understand,” Buffett said. “Canada, it’s great to have a major economy that’s not the size of the United States that you can be confident operating there.”
Buffett declined to say what specific companies he was considering north of the border or whether they would be public or private.
“Obviously, we don’t have as many big companies as we do in the United States,” Buffett said. “There are some things that Canada could actually do quite well to potentially benefit from Berkshire’s participation.”
Canada’s S&P/TSX composite index is up about 5% since the beginning of the year. The economy has a large financial and commodity industry.
Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholder meeting will be broadcast exclusively on CNBC and streamed live on CNBC.com.
