Buffett in the rubble: Berkshire’s quake play and the global forces driving NZ premiums

Ajit Jain, then the head of Berkshire Hathaway's reinsurance division flew to NZ on a private plane not long after the Canterbury quakes (Image: Getty)

Cécile Meier

Mon, 22 Sep 2025

When the dust was still settling after the devastating 2011 Canterbury earthquakes, one of Warren Buffett’s top lieutenants flew in.Ajit Jain, then the head of Berkshire Hathaway (BH)’s reinsurance division, was known globally for his sharp grasp of catastrophe risk and his direct line to Buffett.Sam Stubbs, then-chief executive of Tower Investments, recalls BH’s playbook.“They came in and offered reinsurance immediately after the Christchurch earthquakes. It wasn’t something that we took up because we already had...

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