Berkshire or the S&P 500 in a taxable account

[Shane]

It seems to me that is still makes sense to hold BRK.A/B even if the company underperforms the S&P500 due to tax efficiencies.  Does anyone else share this opinion or disagree?

 

Due to the nature of my work I cannot invest in most stocks and am restricted on trades.  It becomes difficult to find tax efficient ways to invest in my PA.  Active mutual funds just don't seem to make sense.  ETF's are relatively tax efficient but it seems to me some of these owner-operator congolomerates might act as a more tax efficent fund of sorts.

[JBird]

Quantitatively, how much can Berkshire lag the S&P and still make sense to hold because of taxes?

[Shane]

There is no definitive answer to that, it depends on the assumptions.  It is similar to a traditional IRA in that taxes are backloaded but you only get dinged once instead of at every transactions (Because the transactions are internal).