Author: Howard Marks is a legendary investor, chairman and co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management, an investment firm with $122 billion in AuM specializing in distress investing.
Book: This book explains almost all the key ideas one needs to follow in order to become an investor. He uses many passages from his memos to illustrate his ideas, detail his investment philosophy and offer valuable insights to apply in today’s volatile markets. He expounds on concepts such as “second-level thinking” price/value relationships, patient opportunism and defensive investing. Throughout his career, he has been frequently asked about “the most important thing in investing”. In this book, he discusses 19 possible answers to the question.
Opinion: I think that this book is a must for every prospective investor. Without being a complicated reading, Howard Marks manages to give innumerable atemporal takeaways. Advanced investors won’t discover anything new here (if so, they’re in the wrong direction), however, it could be interesting to remember some of the basic principles, especially when narratives and situations like today’s appear. As there are too many interesting concepts and ideas I liked, I will include some extra pictures to share them. The only thing (if any) I did not like was the (common) misattribution of the quote “Markets can remain irrational more than you and I can stay solvent” (Page 30) to Keynes. That’s from Gary Shilling!
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