Making a killing in a crisis is easy! “All you had to do was have money to spend and the nerve to spend to it. You didn’t need caution, conservatism, risk control, patience selectivity, discipline, any of those things. All you needed was money & nerve.”
So says Howard Marks, with tongue planted firmly in cheek. He is the co-chairman and co-founder of Oaktree Capital, which manages $122 billion dollars in distressed debt, averaging ~19% per year after fees over the past 22 years. He is also the author of “Mastering the Market Cycle: Getting the Odds on Your Side.” Our prior conversations with Marks are here 2015 and here 2017.
Marks notes in all seriousness that it does take more than just money & nerve: “Sometime money and nerve will get you killed. One of the keys to investing is to know which is which.” He likes to quote Elroy Dimson, professor at the London Business School on the subject of Risk: “More things can happen than will happen.”
Marks is known for his Chairman’s Memos that he has been his creative outlet since 1990.
His favorite books are listed here; our transcript is posted here.
You can stream/download the full conversation, including the podcast extras on iTunes, Bloomberg, Overcast, and Stitcher. Our earlier podcasts can all be found at iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, and Bloomberg.
Next week, we speak with Rex Sorgatz, author of The Encyclopedia of Misinformation.
