Warren Buffett's reign as Berkshire Hathaway CEO is over. New boss Greg Abel faces 3 big challenges in his wake.

• Warren Buffett has retired arsenic Berkshire Hathaway's CEO, making mode for his apical deputy, Greg Abel.

• Abel's cardinal challenges see deploying Berkshire's immense currency heap and expanding his remit.

• He besides has to navigate making changes without harming Berkshire's culture, adjacent watchers say.

Warren Buffett has officially retired arsenic Berkshire Hathaway's CEO aft six decades successful charge. Close watchers accidental Greg Abel, who took the reins connected New Year's Day, faces 3 cardinal challenges.

Abel's biggest hurdle volition beryllium "finding a mode to intelligently allocate" Berkshire's immense and increasing currency pile, Alex Morris, the writer of "Buffett and Munger Unscripted" and the laminitis of concern probe work TSOH, told Business Insider.

Berkshire's trove of cash, Treasury bills, and different liquid assets precocious breached $350 cardinal — a fig that exceeds the marketplace values of Home Depot, Procter & Gamble, and General Electric.

Read much astir the enactment modulation underway astatine Berkshire Hathaway:

• 6 highlights from Warren Buffett's past twelvemonth arsenic CEO

• Berkshire Hathaway is seeing its biggest shake-up successful decades. Warren Buffett watchers accidental it's conscionable the start.

• Read Todd Combs' goodbye missive to Geico employees aft helium discontinue Berkshire Hathaway to articulation JPMorgan

Abel could usage Berkshire's warfare thorax to money banal buybacks, get different businesses, oregon wage dividends to shareholders, Morris said.

Yet Buffett hasn't recovered immoderate of those to beryllium fruitful avenues successful caller years. Berkshire hasn't repurchased shares successful its past 5 reported quarters, lone paid a dividend connected 1 juncture nether Buffett, successful 1967, and has made fewer worldly acquisitions successful the past 15 years.

As a concern icon and legendary investor, Buffett was fixed "more of a pass" by Wall Street and Berkshire shareholders for hoarding currency than Abel is apt to receive, Morris said.

"Finding a solution present is challenging," helium continued, earlier suggesting Abel mightiness see a one-off peculiar dividend.

Prior to becoming CEO, Abel headed up Berkshire's non-insurance businesses, including Berkshire Hathaway Energy and the BNSF Railway.

Abel is recognized arsenic a world-class operator, but that's "fundamentally antithetic from identifying accretive acquisitions successful the nationalist and backstage markets," Luke Rahbari, the CEO of Equity Armor Investments, told Business Insider.

Buffett and his precocious concern partner, Charlie Munger, designed Berkshire arsenic a web of decentralized, autonomous subsidiaries, freeing them to walk overmuch of their days speechmaking firm filings and searching for compelling investments.