A claim in Fairfax Media that US insurance and investment giant Berkshire Hathaway is pursuing a strategy that will “put Austbrokers out of business” has been discounted for using inaccurate information and incorrect assumptions.

The article, published last week in Fairfax Media business pages, says Berkshire Hathaway “intends to use its established position and substantial resources to sell commercial insurance online with a new initiative called Berkshire Hathaway Direct, cutting out brokers once and for all”.

But Austbrokers MD and CEO Mark Searles told insuranceNEWS.com.au the article written by Graham Witcomb, an analyst with Intelligent Investor Share Advisor, “portrays an erroneous view… [and] introduces a completely unbalanced perspective”.

“Such claims would clearly impact the entire industry – not just Austbrokers – and the factual inaccuracies and negative connotations raise concerns,” he said.

insuranceNEWS.com.au is aware that Berkshire Hathaway has handed over its SME business as part of an agreement it signed with IAG last month. Its commercial business in Australia is being handled by Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, which does not use a direct sales channel.

We will publish an analysis next week of the points raised by the article.