Why fund managers keep comparing Washington H. Soul Pattinson to Berkshire Hathaway

Washington H. Soul Pattinson's merger with Brickworks has created a $13.2 billion diversified investment house with a dividend track record spanning over a century.

25 Jun 2026 · 5 min read

Diversified investment house Washington H. Soul Pattinson has been repeatedly compared by fund managers to Berkshire Hathaway following its merger with long-time cross-shareholder Brickworks. Ausbil Investment Management's September 2025 Article quoted portfolio manager David Lloyd describing the deal as turning Soul Patts into a $14 billion investment house that is starting to look a little bit like a Berkshire Hathaway or a Blackstone.

Cleaning up a century-old cross-shareholding

Airlie Funds Management's detailed September 2025 Monthly Report set out the scale of the business created by the merger: net assets of approximately $13.2 billion invested across listed large caps, emerging companies, unlisted property, private equity and private credit, with the company having delivered a compound total return of 13.4% per annum since 1 January 2000, ahead of the ASX 200's 8.6% and even Berkshire Hathaway's own 11.2% per annum return over the same period. Airlie emphasised the merger removed a long-standing structural quirk, in which Brickworks owned 26% of Soul Patts while Soul Patts owned 43% of Brickworks, leaving the combined entity with a net cash balance sheet after the capital raise needed to complete the transaction.

The combination of permanent capital, a proven team, defensive tilt and a simplified structure positions SOL to continue delivering attractive long-term returns for shareholders.

— Airlie Funds Management, Monthly Report, September 2025

Plato Investment Management's March 2026 Article highlighted the company's dividend track record as one of the most compelling reasons to hold: a dividend paid every year across roughly 120 years of listed history, increased every year for the past 27 years, from a management team it rates highly as capital allocators able to invest up and down the capital stack. Perpetual Asset Management's March 2026 Monthly Report noted the stock climbed 8.8% over the quarter following its first interim result since the Brickworks combination, with the manager highlighting a rotation into alternative assets including private credit, where management saw no signs of stress given a more old-economy-oriented exposure.

What managers are watching next

Not every holder has kept the position at full size. Oracle Advisory Group trimmed its Soul Patts holding across both December 2025 and March 2026, in the latter case despite the stock being a top performer, up 8.8% over the quarter, in order to fund purchases elsewhere. Market Partners' June 2026 Article summed up the bull case for income-focused investors: while the roughly 3% fully franked yield is not itself high, it has grown consistently year after year, and the post-merger structure gives management materially more flexibility to reposition the portfolio across real assets, private credit, emerging companies and international opportunities than it had previously.