The Impact of Debt

All Rights Reserved Follow us: Memo to: Oaktree Clients From: Howard Marks Re: The Impact of Debt My partner Bruce Karsh recently supplied me with a newspaper article about chess that inspired me to write a brief memo called The Indispensability of Risk., Thus encouraged, I’m following up with another short memo., And at other times, I say, as I hope others say after reading my memos, “I never thought of it that way.”, (Unless otherwise indicated, this memo is the source of the quotations that follow; in all cases, emphasis is in the original.), This memorandum is being made available for educational purposes only and should not be used for any other purpose.

investing-in-credit-today

Any offer of securities or funds may only be made pursuant to a confidential private placement memorandum, subscription documents and constituent documents in their final form.

Performing Credit Quarterly 4Q2023: The Goldilocks Trap

As Howard recently noted in his memo Easy Money: Low interest rates made it: easy to run a business, with the stimulated economy growing unabated for more than a decade; easy for investors to enjoy asset appreciation; easy and cheap to lever investments; easy and cheap for businesses to obtain financing; and easy to avoid default and bankruptcy.

Performing Credit Quarterly 3Q2023: Tails, You Lose?

But, of course, such performance is only possible if managers avoid (or limit) defaults and losses, which is why we believe credit expertise, experience over multiple cycles, and risk control are essential for successful CLO managers. (5) The risk/return calculus for credit versus equity investment may be shifting We’ll give Howard the last word, with an excerpt from his recent memo Further Thoughts on Sea Change: Will asset ownership be as profitable in the years ahead as in the 2009-21 period?

Sustainability in Action – Oaktree’s Intern Class: Top Takeaways from Summer 2023

What is one of your favorite memories from your time at Oaktree?

Navigating Cycles

Any offer of securities or funds may only be made pursuant to a confidential private placement memorandum, subscription documents and constituent documents in their final form.

Investing in Real Estate

Any offer of securities or funds may only be made pursuant to a confidential private placement memorandum, subscription documents and constituent documents in their final form.

The Pendulum in International Affairs

As regular readers of my memos and books know, I’m strongly interested in – you might say obsessed with – the concept of the pendulum., People frequently ask what caused me to start writing memos in 1990., Over the years, many memos have been prompted by connections I sensed between ostensibly unconnected events., Thus the inspiration for this memo., But I think juxtaposing them is informative . . . and worthy of a memo.

Thinking About Macro

. – Warren Buffett Regular readers of my memos know that Oaktree and I approach macro forecasts with a high degree of skepticism., That’s why I’m devoting a memo to a subject I largely disavow., As a result, I wrote a memo saying the market needed a trip to a psychiatrist (On the Couch, January 14, 2016)., I concluded my 2016 memo What Does the Market Know?, The answer lies in the title of a 2001 memo of mine: You Can’t Predict.

Behind the Memo - Fewer Losers, or More Winners?