When Warren Buffett’s annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders was published last month, media coverage focused on the chairman and CEO’s mea culpa about Berkshire’s investment in Kraft Heinz, his lament that he couldn’t find the next big investment to buy, the accounting change that caused Berkshire to take a $20bn write-down, and, once again, his failure to announce any formal succession plans even though Buffett is 88 years old and vice chair Charlie Munger is 95.

But one thing jumped out at me in his annual letter and a subsequent extended interview with Becky Quick of CNBC: his acknowledgment that his best stock pickers hadn’t beaten the market and his tacit admission that investors couldn’t expect Berkshire Hathaway to do so in the future, either.