Category Archive

We’ve just been re-reading Howard Mark’s 2009 Memo – Touchstones. In the memo Marks provides some great insights into how investors can become more effective contrarians saying: Resisting – and thereby achieving success as a contrarian – isn’t easy. Things combine to make it difficult, including natural herd tendencies and the pain imposed by being out of step, since momentum … Read More

In his 2014 memo – Dare To Be Great, Howard Marks says successful investing includes dealing with some losses saying: “To succeed at any activity involving the pursuit of gain, we have to be able to withstand the possibility of loss. A goal of avoiding all losses can render success unachievable almost as readily as can the occurrence of too … Read More

Here’s a great interview with Howard Marks at Goldman Sachs in which Marks discusses why going to cash under almost all circumstances is stupid, and why market timing is impossible. Here’s an excerpt from the interview: Interviewer: Now that Oaktree is now $120 billion, and I understand not all pools of money are the same, realistically given the size of … Read More

Here’s a great video with Howard Marks at Bloomberg. During the interview Marks says: “I think, as it often does, the market has flipped from being all good to all bad. Prior to October the 4th it was ignoring some possible problem sites and now it’s obsessing about them. That’s the way it goes.” You can watch the full video … Read More

In his 2006 memo titled ‘Pigweed’ Howard Marks provided investors with six classic investment mistakes that every investor should avoid using the real-life case study of hedge fund – Amaranth Advisors. Amaranth Advisors was an American multi-strategy hedge fund founded by Nicholas Maounis and headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. During its peak, the firm had up to $9 billion in assets under management before collapsing in September 2006, after … Read More

Here’s a great interview with Howard Marks from his own series called – The Marks Investor Series. In this Q&A session Marks discusses what makes great investors great. Here’s an excerpt from that interview: I think we can lump the explanation under the heading of emotion. You mentioned Seth Klarman and Stan Druckenmiller. These are two people that have been here … Read More

One of our favorite books from our list of 50 Of The Best Investing Books Of All Time is – The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, by Howard Marks. There’s one passage in particular in which Marks highlights the importance of buying at the right price without consideration for the sell-side saying: “At Oaktree we say, “Well bought … Read More

Here’s a great interview (below) with Howard Marks at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (2018). Marks was asked his thoughts on distressed debt investing, margin of safety, and catching falling knives when evaluating prospective investments. Here’s his response: Marks: You know there’s only one intelligent form of investing and that’s to figure out what something’s worth and … Read More

Howard Marks provides a great reminder in his 2001 shareholder letter that it takes a lot more than hard work for active managers to be successful in investing. He added that increasing the number of analysts to their firm does little to add value to their analysis saying: “I was recently on a panel that was asked what gave our … Read More

One of the best resources for investors are Howard Marks’ memos. One of our favorite memos here at The Acquirer’s Multiple is one he wrote called – Warning Signs in which Marks discusses the two main risks in the investment world. Here is an excerpt from that memo: For about a year, I’ve been sharing my realization that there are … Read More