Howard Marks Managing Director at Oaktree Capital
Many young people harbor the dream of one day donning a jacket and tie to become a trader or an asset manager for an investment firm on Walt Street.
But not everyone attaches importance to the importance of knowledge that is needed for successful stock trading. It is information about existing methods and techniques of market research that allows you to get a stable profit.
Some of the owners of Hodge Funds even prefer to regularly issue training materials for their employees, thereby protecting their capital. One such innovator is Howard Marx.
Howard Marks was born on April 22, 1946. He lived his childhood and youth in New York, or more precisely in Queens.
It is worth noting that there is very little information about the early years and parents of the billionaire, since in his interviews Howard practically did not remember that period of his life.
Howard Marks studied at the very prestigious Wharton School, which operates at the University of Pennsylvania and provided the opportunity for further admission to this university.
By the way, he graduated from the university with a degree in finance, and quite successfully, since he received a diploma with honors in 1967.
After university, he decided to enter the University of Chicago, where he was able to obtain an MBA degree.
Howard Mark was a very talented student, which allowed him to receive a scholarship. At the age of 23, he had a number of letters of recommendation and an MBA diploma in his hands. Such education and desire opened doors to the largest companies in the investment world.
Manager career
In order to start a career in finance, Howard Marks took the first responsible step - he moved to New York and sent out his resume to many investment companies. His first job was at Citicorp, where he took the position of analyst.
However, he did not stay in the position of analyst for long, as his career growth led him to the position of vice president of the company.
It is worth noting that he worked at Citicorp for seven years, which allowed him to gain valuable experience in asset management and a good financial cushion for independent navigation.
In 1985, Howard Marks received an offer from TCW Group, where he went to work. There he mastered a relatively new direction for himself - high-yield bonds.
At the company, he headed an entire department for bond trading and investment portfolio formation. The most interesting thing is that Howard Marks worked for TCW for ten whole years and even served as president of TCW Asset Management Company.
Independent swimming.
While occupying leadership positions, Howard Marks gained not only the necessary experience, but also acquired contacts and loyal partners. Which allowed him to leave TCW in 1995, together with his partners and former subordinates, and create his own investment firm, Oaktree Capital Management.
The company was actively involved in attracting investor funds to deal with distressed debts, as well as high-yield bonds.
In 2008, at the peak of the crisis, Howard Marks and Oaktree Capital were able to attract more than $10 billion to the fund, which in turn allowed them to buy up a huge number of distressed debt assets, which, after the US economy emerged from the crisis, made it possible to earn impressive capital. Currently, Howard manages more than $100 billion.
In 2011, the book “The Most Important Thing: An Unusual Feeling for the Thoughtful Investor” was published in which Howard Marks shared his methodology for selecting assets and talked about some rules for making certain decisions.
The book was highly praised Warren Buffett, as well as a number of other large investors. At this stage, the company continues to operate; moreover, the fund has become a participant in the exchange, which allows other traders to buy shares of this company. Howard Marks' personal fortune is estimated at $1.8 billion.