Berkshire Hathaway, through a press release last Thursday, announced the formation of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance. This is the recently created commercial property casualty insurance group is now operating to underwrite property, casualty and other executive liability insurance.

According to Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett. "It's official: We are moving into commercial insurance in a substantial way, and we are here to stay. With our proven underwriting discipline and financial strength, along with a stellar management team, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance is a welcome solution for customers seeking large-scale property and casualty capacity for the long term."

The company also said that the policies are being underwritten with the non-admitted paper from National Fire & Marine Insurance Company. This is one of the Berkshire group's excess and surplus insurance firms and is also a subsidiary of Berkshire's National Indemnity Group.

This should provide further windfall for Berkshire shareholders as the first order of business for the fim is expand into the US$25 billion excess and surplus market in the United States.