Subject: Re: Are Berkshire Shares Safe?
Being a bit paranoid, I looked into this recently for my Berkshire shares. Here is a document on Berkshire's website that should be helpful:

https://www.berkshirehathaway....

The short answer is that one can take possession of physical certificates for Berkshire or hold stock directly with the transfer agent (EQ) via their direct registration system which is supposed to be the digital equivalent of holding physical securities. In contrast, owning securities at a brokerage means they are in "street name", not registered to you directly.

My understanding is that cash accounts (that is, accounts not set up for margin) are considered very safe and currently I have my Berkshire at Vanguard and Fidelity. That being said, more than half of my shares have a very low cost basis and sit in a taxable account. If I ever need to tap those shares, it won't be for a very long time. I have considered putting those shares into the direct registration system at EQ since I would not need to suddenly gain access to those shares to sell them.

One issue with EQ that I've heard about (probably true for all transfer agents) is that the direct registration systems are kind of a pain to deal with. You'll likely need medallion signature guarantees (not just notary guarantees) and medallion signature guarantee is only offered by certain financial institutions. I do not maintain local banking relationships and I have found it next to impossible to obtain a medallion signature guarantee in the past. I would probably have to establish a local banking relationship just to do this, so I've dragged my feet.

But can you imagine the implications of Fidelity or Vanguard going bust in a way that affects securities held by clients in cash accounts? That would be apocalyptic, and I don't think I'm exaggerating!