If you were to ask any knowledgeable investor for the name of the most successful financial holding company in history, chances are they'll respond with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B). And they'd be right; since Warren Buffett took the helm nearly five decades ago, Berkshire Hathaway has averaged a compound annual gain in book value in excess of 19%, absolutely crushing the S&P; 500's returns by more than 10% per year and turning thousands into millions. What's more, as I explain in the following video, I'm convinced Berkshire Hathaway still has all the necessary ingredients to continue beating the market going forward -- albeit at a lower clip than it did in years' past given the constraints of its enormous size. But I don't personally own Berkshire Hathaway stock. Why? Because I prefer holding shares of Markel (NYSE: MKL) instead, a much smaller financial holding company with decades of growth ahead of it. To hear my full take on why I choose to own shares of Markel instead of Berkshire Hathaway, check out the video below. Investing made simple: The Motley Fool's essential guide to investing is now available to the public, free of cost, at http://bit.ly/1atRpHZ. This resource was designed to cover everything that new investors need to know to get started today. For your free copy, just click the link above. Visit us on the web at http://www.fool.com, home to the world's greatest investing community! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subscribe to The Motley Fool's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/TheMotleyFool Or, follow our Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/+MotleyFool/posts Inside The Motley Fool: Check out our Culture Blog! http://culture.fool.com Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/themotleyfool Follow The Motley Fool on Twitter: https://twitter.com/themotleyfool

• published: 09 Dec 2013
• views: 3888