Borsheim new links to Berkshire will change nothing in the way this business is run. All members of the Friedman family will continue to operate just as they have before; Charlie and I will stay on the sidelines where we belong. And when we say all members the words have real meaning. Mr. and Mrs. Friedman, at 88 and 87, respectively, are in the store daily. The wives of Ike, Alan, Marvin and Donald all pitch in at busy times, and a fourth generation is beginning to learn the ropes.
波仙的营运模式并不会因为Berkshire的加入而有所改变，所有的家族成员仍将持续在各自的岗位上奋斗，查理跟我会站在旁边默默支持，事实上所有的成员包含高龄88岁与87岁的老先生与老太太，仍然每天到店里工作，其它儿子媳妇也是从早忙到晚，家族的第四代已正准备开始学习接班。
It is great fun to be in business with people you have long admired. The Friedmans, like the Blumkins, have achieved success because they have deserved success. Both families focus on what right for the customer and that, inevitably, works out well for them, also. We couldn have better partners.
跟你所欣赏的人一起共事实在是一件很大的乐趣，Friedmans家族的成功就像是B太太家族的成功一样，实至名归，两个家族都坚持对客户有益的事之上，同时对他们自己也有很大的益处，这是我们最好的事业伙伴。
Insurance Operations
保险事业营运
Shown below is an updated version of our usual table presenting key figures for the insurance industry:
下表是有关保险事业的几项主要的数据更新
Statutory
Yearly Change Combined Ratio Yearly Change Inflation Rate in Premiums After Policyholder in Incurred Measured by
Written (%) Dividends Losses (%) GNP Deflator (%)
1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988(Est.)
3.8 3.7 5.0 8.5 22.1 22.2 9.4 3.9
106.0 109.6 112.0 118.0 116.3 108.0 104.6 105.4
6.5 8.4 6.8 16.9 16.1 13.5 7.8 4.2
9.6 6.4 3.8 3.7 3.2 2.7 3.3 3.6
Source: A.M. Best Co.
The combined ratio represents total insurance costs (losses incurred plus expenses) compared to revenue from premiums: A ratio below 100 indicates an underwriting profit, and one above 100 indicates a loss. When the investment income that an insurer earns from holding on to policyholders?funds (he float? is taken into account, a combined ratio in the 107-111 range typically produces an overall break-even result, exclusive of earnings on the funds provided by shareholders.
综合比率代表的是保险的总成本(损失加上费用)占保费收入的比率，100以下代表会有承销利益，100以上代表会有承销损失，若把持有保费收入浮存金(扣除股东权益部份所产生的盈余)所产生的投资收益列入考量，损益两平的范围大概是在107-111之间。
For the reasons laid out in previous reports, we expect the industry incurred losses to grow by about 10% annually, even in years when general inflation runs considerably lower. If premium growth meanwhile materially lags that 10% rate, underwriting losses will mount, though the industry tendency to under reserve when business turns bad may obscure their size for a time. As the table shows, the industry underwriting loss grew in 1988. This trend is almost certain to continue - and probably will accelerate - for at least two more years.
基于前几次年报所说明的理由，即使是通货膨胀在这几年来相对温和，我们预期保险业每年损失增加的比率约在10%左右，若是保费收入成长没有到达10%以上，损失一定会增加，虽然保险公司在景气不好时，会习惯性地将损失暂时隐藏起来，如附表所示，1988年产业整体的损失确实增加，而这个趋势应该会继续持续下去，甚至在未来两年还会加速恶化。
The property-casualty insurance industry is not only subnormally profitable, it is subnormally popular. (As Sam Goldwyn philosophized: n life, one must learn to take the bitter with the sour.? One of the ironies of business is that many relatively-unprofitable industries that are plagued by inadequate prices habitually find themselves beat upon by irate customers even while other, hugely profitable industries are spared complaints, no matter how high their prices.
产险业的获利情况不但是相当的低，而且也是不太受尊重的行业，(就像是山姆高德温曾说一个人要学会体验人生的苦与乐，不过这行很讽刺的是，做的要死要活的同时，还要被客户糟蹋，不像有些赚翻了的行业，东西明明贵的要死，却是一个愿打，一个愿挨)
Take the breakfast cereal industry, whose return on invested capital is more than double that of the auto insurance industry (which is why companies like Kellogg and General Mills sell at five times book value and most large insurers sell close to book). The cereal companies regularly impose price increases, few of them related to a significant jump in their costs. Yet not a peep is heard from consumers. But when auto insurers raise prices by amounts that do not even match cost increases, customers are outraged. If you want to be loved, it clearly better to sell high-priced corn flakes than low-priced auto insurance.
以早餐麦片为例，它的资产报酬率是汽车保险业的一倍(这也是为什么家乐氏与通用磨坊的股价净值比是五倍，而保险业者的股价净值比仅为一倍)，麦片公司常常在调整产品售价，即便其生产成本没什么变，但消费者却连一个屁都不吭一声，但要是换做是保险业者，就算只是反映成本稍微调整一下价格，保户马上就会生气地跳起来，所以若你识相，最好是选择去卖高价的玉米片，而不是低价的汽车保险。