Episode 7: Mastering Market Cycles With Billionaire Investor Howard Marks

Howard Marks is the Co-Founder/Co-Chairman of Oaktree Capital. His company is the largest investor in distressed securities worldwide. His company manages over $124 billion dollars in assets. Howard Marks is widely considered as one of the greatest investors in the world. 

Mr. Marks is called, “The master of the market cycle”. In 2020, with a net worth of $2.1 billion, Marks was ranked No. 391 on the Forbes 400 rankings of the wealthiest Americans. During the financial crisis of 2007–08, Oaktree raised $11 billion, the largest distressed debt fund in history, to buy distressed assets, which "paid off richly for his investors". Howard is famous for his memos which which detail his investment strategies and insight into the economy and are posted publicly on the Oaktree website. 

Howard is also a bestselling author. He has written two books: The Most Important Thing and Mastering the Market Cycle. According to Warren Buffet, “When I see memos from Howard Marks in my mail, they're the first thing I open and read. I always learn something, and that goes double for his book." Ray Dalio says, “Howard Mark’s book Mastering the Market Cycle is a must read for all”. Charlie Munger states, “Howard’s books tell us how to learn from history, and thus allows us to get a better idea of what the future holds. According to Seth Klarman, “The Most Important Thing, Howard Marks insightful investment philosophy and time-tested approach, is a must read for every investor”

Howard Marks received his bachelors from The Wharton School at UPenn and his masters at UChicago Booth.

We will talk about basic topics like how Howard came up with the idea of his memos, distressed debt securities, and COVID-19 financial markets.