英文早读第201篇，选自巴菲特年度信，友才翻译。
The newest addition to our insurance group is Cypress Insurance Company of South Pasadena, California. This Worker’s Compensation insurer was purchased for cash in the final days of 1977 and, therefore, its approximate 12.5 million of volume for that year was not included in our results. Cypress and National Indemnity’s present California Worker’s Compensation operation will not be combined, but will operate independently utilizing somewhat different marketing strategies. Milt Thornton, President of Cypress since 1968, runs a first‐class operation for policyholders, agents, employees and owners alike. We look forward to working with him.
我们保险集团最新纳入的成员是位于加利福尼亚州南帕萨迪纳市的赛普里斯保险公司。这家工伤保险承保商于1977年最后几天以现金收购，因此，该年度其约1250万美元的业务量未计入我们的业绩。赛普里斯保险公司和国民赔偿公司目前在加利福尼亚州的工伤保险业务不会合并，而是会采用略有不同的营销策略独立运营。自1968年起担任赛普里斯保险公司总裁的米尔特桑顿，为投保人、代理商、员工和公司所有者都打造了一流的运营模式。我们期待与他携手合作。
Insurance companies offer standardized policies which can be copied by anyone. Their only products are promises. It is not difficult to be licensed, and rates are an open book. There are no important advantages from trademarks, patents, location, corporate longevity, raw material sources, etc., and very little consumer differentiation to produce insulation from competition. It is commonplace, in corporate annual reports, to stress the difference that people make. Sometimes this is true and sometimes it isn’t. But there is no question that the nature of the insurance business magnifies the effect which individual managers have on company performance. We are very fortunate to have the group of managers that are associated with us.
保险公司提供的是标准化保单，任何人都能复制。它们唯一的产品就是承诺。获得经营许可并不难，费率也是公开透明的。保险公司在商标、专利、地理位置、企业存续时长、原材料来源等方面没有显著优势，而且消费者对不同保险公司的区分度很低，难以凭借此来抵御竞争。在公司年报中，强调人的作用是很常见的。有时候这确实属实，有时候则并非如此。但毫无疑问，保险行业的特性放大了管理者个人对公司业绩的影响。我们非常幸运，能拥有与我们共事的这群管理者。
10.policyholder：保单持有人
11.longevity：长寿；持久
12.insulation：隔热；绝缘；隔音
