On October 12, 1990, Oaktree Co-Chairman Howard Marks published his first memo to clients. In the decades since, he has periodically released memos reflecting his viewpoint on the investment landscape, as well as more general business insights. On this podcast we'll hear the latest memos by Howard, released in tandem with or shortly after their publication.
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Oaktree Capital Podcasts
The Insight by Oaktree Capital lets you know what Oaktree leaders think are the most important things for investors to focus on today. The Insight provides you with audio versions of many popular Oaktree publications so that you can learn about trends impacting a wide variety of asset classes. And it features conversations with many of Oaktree’s leading experts, including Howard Marks, about relative value, investment theory, and the market environment. The Insight goes beyond today’s market ...
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The world of finance has a huge impact on all of us. This show aims to explore and unravel some of the mysteries surrounding the investing business, via interviews with masters of the real life money maze. Expect tips for mastering capital allocation, making better business decisions, strategies for taking your career to the next level, and revelatory profiles of leading industry figures. Whether you're a current or aspiring investment professional, a regular investor, or a student exploring ...
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In the latest episode of The Insight: Conversations, Oaktree experts examine the recent volatility in the credit markets, discuss shifting perceptions of European credit, and take a closer look at asset-backed finance. Justin Quaglia (Managing Director, Credit Trading), Madelaine Jones (Portfolio Manager, European High Yield Bonds and Senior Loans)…
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178: The Silk Roads: A Decade On - Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at Oxford, on the Changing World Order
1:15:53
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1:15:53Peter Frankopan is a Professor of Global History at Oxford, and author of The Silk Roads. His work has been both profound and enduring, with the book being translated into more than 45 languages and selling nearly 3 million copies worldwide. The updated version has just been published. In this conversation, Peter reflects on the potent forces at wo…
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177: The Courtship of Investment Allocators & Managers: Inside iConnections - With Ron Biscardi
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55:49If you are an asset allocator, what is the most effective way to widen your lens on identifying potential investment managers? And if you are an investment manager, how can you be more effective in meeting some of those key allocators who might transform your business? In April 2020, Ron Biscardi launched iConnections, whose platform allows manager…
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In his latest memo, Howard Marks discusses the implications of governmental intervention in economies. Considering examples such as rent control, fire insurance, and tariffs, he emphasizes that while free markets don’t produce perfect solutions, efforts to control them often make things much worse. He argues that when allowed to function, the laws …
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176: Beyond the Silk Roads: Middle Eastern Venture Investing - With Noor Sweid, Founder and Managing Partner of Global Ventures
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49:06Today we welcome one of the Middle East’s most successful angel investors and venture capitalists, listed in 'FORBES 100 Most Powerful Business Women 2025'. Noor Sweid explains her journey, from early career in management consultancy and relocating to Dubai, followed by growing and listing a business on the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ Dubai in…
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In the latest episode, we assess the state of the public and private credit markets, looking at the current balance of supply and demand and considering the risks and opportunities for investors. Join Wayne Dahl (Co-Portfolio Manager, Global Credit) and Suzana Perić (Managing Director, Sourcing & Origination) as they discuss topics from the recentl…
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175: "The Consultant’s Edge" - Are Investment Consultants Indispensable? With Michael Manning, CEO of NEPC
49:48
49:48
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49:48From the 1950s onwards, the foundations of investment consulting were laid, as pension funds and institutional investors sought professional guidance on asset allocation and portfolio management. This was enhanced in the 1960s & 70s by the introduction of Modern Portfolio Theory by Harry Markowitz and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) by Willi…
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Through direct, entertaining & insightful interviews with masters of the real life money maze, we hope to learn about different approaches to allocating capital, making business decisions and navigating the pitfalls that line the paths to prosperity. Each episode, with invite leading figures from the investment management and finance sector onto th…
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173: The End of US Equity Dominance? With Chris Wood, Global Strategist and Author of 'Greed and Fear'
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46:54Chris Wood, former guest and highly respected global strategist, recently made a bold prediction, namely that the US stock market has reached its all-time relative peak, similar to Japan in 1989. His recent commentaries include one describing Trump’s “Liberation Day” as “Impoverishment Day” and that Trump is the “Bull in the China Shop”. In this co…
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In celebration of Oaktree’s 30th anniversary on April 10, 2025, cofounders Howard Marks (Co-Chairman), Bruce Karsh (Co-Chairman and Chief Investment Officer), and Sheldon Stone (Principal and Co-Portfolio Manager, High Yield Bonds) held a fireside chat for employees where they shared stories about Oaktree’s origins and the firm’s journey over the l…
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In celebration of Oaktree’s 30th anniversary on April 10, 2025, cofounders Howard Marks (Co-Chairman), Bruce Karsh (Co-Chairman and Chief Investment Officer), and Sheldon Stone (Principal and Co-Portfolio Manager, High Yield Bonds) held a fireside chat for employees where they shared stories about Oaktree’s origins and the firm’s journey over the l…
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172: Heroes or Villains? The Shrinking World of Shorting - With Carson Block, Founder of Muddy Waters
1:06:35
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1:06:35Economic theory suggests that when competition decreases, remaining firms may have more market power, which can lead to increased opportunities to expand, innovate, or capture a larger market share. Does that analogy apply to the world of shorting? And even if you are considered one of the best in the business, can you stay afloat with a rising tid…
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171: From Triumph to Trauma: The Dramatic Investment Arc of Neil Woodford, Founder of Woodford Investment Management
1:21:15
1:21:15
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1:21:15Some of our conversations are deliberately different, and the man I interview here has cost me a lot of money! I also consider him a friend and somebody whose perspective I have valued. It could be said that Neil Woodford, CBE, has had a career of two halves, the first of which encompassed extraordinary investment success at Invesco Perpetual and t…
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In his latest memo, Howard discusses how the recent events surrounding tariffs can have a seismic but unpredictable impact on the global economy. Seismic in that they reflect a fundamental undoing of longstanding norms, and unpredictable in that tariffs would bring untold second- and third-order consequences. He emphasizes that there is no foreknow…
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What do elevated interest rates mean for private equity? Why is demand for junior capital solutions growing? What is the impact of the current supply/demand imbalance in asset-backed finance? In the latest episode of The Insight: Conversations, Matt Wilson (Co-Portfolio Manager, Special Situations), Christina Lee (Co-Portfolio Manager, U.S. Private…
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170: The Irreversible Convergence of Public & Private Markets – With Scott Kleinman, Co-President of Apollo Asset Management
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50:00In the world of mythology, Apollo is one the most revered and significant of all the ancient Greek and Roman Gods. It was also the name given to an asset management business created in 1990 and today with assets of over $750 billion*, it’s a leading provider of alternative asset management and retirement solutions. In this conversation we understan…
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169: Unlocking Investment Wisdom - With Howard Marks, Co-Founder of Oaktree Capital Management
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56:27When Warren Buffet singles you out for praise, it might be fair to say you have summited the investment equivalent of K2, Annapurna and Kangchenjunga, the most challenging of mountain peaks! In a capricious investing world, where success is often transient, reputations easily tarnished and hubris punished, to have not only stayed the course for 55 …
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In his latest memo, Howard addresses a common question he’s been receiving over the last few months: “What about credit spreads?” He explains that the key question should be whether today’s spread is sufficient to offset the credit losses that’ll occur, rather than whether it’s historically narrow or not. Further, he emphasizes that spread widening…
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168: From Rare Earths to Broader Metals: Investment Opportunities & Strategic Priorities for the West
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51:35In this episode we’ve been very fortunate to find someone who ranks amongst the most qualified anywhere in the world to discuss this topic. He was the former CFO of Billiton, then as CEO, built Xstrata into one of the world’s largest diversified mining companies, helping grow their market value from US$500m to US$60bn, at one point employing over 9…
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In the latest episode of Behind the Memo, Howard discusses his recent memo, On Bubble Watch, which revisits a subject he first wrote about 25 years ago. He delves into the investor psychology that underpins a market bubble, and assesses the danger of letting excitement and fear of missing out override risk aversion. You can listen to or read the Me…
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167: Space: The Next Frontier of Asset Allocation? With Mark Boggett, CEO of Seraphim Space
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1:04:52Star Trek’s opening lines were potent: "Space: The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its mission? To boldly go where no man has gone before!” Whether Star Trek or Star Wars, such films offered tantalising glimpses of another world. But it’s actually here now! The WEF & McKinsey predict that the space sector will reac…
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Navigating LMEs with Armen Panossian, Ronnie Kaplan, and Ross Rosenfelt
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36:49Why have liability management exercises (LMEs) soared in prominence? What are the risks and opportunities associated with these transactions? And what factors determine successful navigation of the LME wave? Join Armen Panossian (Co-CEO and Head of Performing Credit), Ronnie Kaplan (Portfolio Manager, U.S. Senior Loans), and Ross Rosenfelt (Managin…
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166: Reinventing Equity Investing: James Anderson's Journey, From Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust to Managing Partner & CIO of Lingotto's Innovation Strategy
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1:14:12In today’s episode we have the chance to talk to one of the most successful investors of his generation, James Anderson, Former Partner at Baillie Gifford. I'm joined by Mark Wallace, MD of Rothschild & Co, who brings his expertise on US tech equities to this discussion. From 1987 until 2022 he led their flagship fund, the Scottish Mortgage Investm…
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165: Life & Career Advice from the World’s Top Financial Executives: Compilation Special
22:52
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22:52Enjoy a variety of career tips & life lessons from finance leaders in this New Year compilation special. This episode brings together some of the most insightful lessons and perspectives we’ve gleaned from past guests, covering everything from life wisdom to industry-specific strategies. You’ll hear from an extraordinary lineup, including Sir Chris…
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Conversations: Recalibration with Danielle Poli, Julio Herrera, Mark Jacobs, and Todd Molz
35:20
35:20
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35:20Why have Treasury yields remained higher for longer and what does this mean for credit investors? What are the potential impacts of the historic stimulus recently announced in China? And what is the current outlook for income-generating real estate? In the latest episode of The Insight: Conversations, Danielle Poli (Assistant Portfolio Manager, Glo…
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164: Infrastructure: From Niche to Mainstream Asset Class - With Luba Nikulina, CSO of IFM Investors
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50:21Today is the first time we welcome back a guest who has changed firms between interviews. We recorded Luba Nikulina, on Thanksgiving day, 2022, and our guest was then Head Global of Research at WTW, an organisation advising on over $3 trillion of assets. Today Luba is the Chief Strategy Officer at IFM Investors, a leading asset manager in infrastru…
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On January 2, 2000, Howard Marks published his first memo to garner any reader response, bubble.com, calling attention to excesses he detected in the market for tech and internet stocks. His newest memo revisits the subject of bubbles. Howard expresses his view that they’re more a state of mind than a quantitative calculation and describes bubble t…
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In this episode, Simon shares an update on the show, reflecting on notable interviews and summarising the wide range of initiatives under development beyond the Money Maze Podcast itself. Although we have said this for each of the 5 years since we started, this year has been incredibly exciting, surpassing both out expectations, and 2+ million glob…
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The Roundup: Top Takeaways from Oaktree’s Quarterly Letters – December 2024 Edition
15:39
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15:39Amid a strong U.S. economy and potentially inflationary policies from the incoming administration, yields may remain higher for longer. High-income assets will likely benefit, but investors should avoid complacency, particularly given the unpredictability of macroeconomic factors. In the current installment of The Roundup, Oaktree experts examine t…
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162: Marketing God: With Nicky Gumbel - Pioneer of the Alpha Course
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1:02:32With Christmas coming up, we thought today would be the perfect time to replay one of our older episodes! Very occasionally one individual can have a disproportionately powerful impact on a collection of people, but very rarely does that person’s impact grow in time and reach, and expand beyond anyone’s expectations and for millions, be responsible…
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161: Who is Scott Bessent? Meet Trump's Incoming Treasury Secretary
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1:02:34Today’s guest is the new US Treasury Secretary, serving under Donald Trump. The role gives him immense responsibility for managing US obligations and finances, including circa. $7 trillion of annual US federal spending, the $35+ trillion fiscal debt pile and continued inflationary pressures on both US businesses and consumers. Prior to this, Scott …
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160: Managing the Largest Public Pension Fund in the U.S. - With CalPERS CEO, Marcie Frost
58:52
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58:52In 1932, the United States was in the grip of the Great Depression. One in four Americans were unemployed, nearly 9,000 banks had failed. Franklin Roosevelt was elected to the first of his four terms as President of the United States, and a retirement system for state employees was established in California. It became the California Public Employee…
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159: Should Your Investment Portfolio Have the Right to Bear Arms? With General Sir Patrick Sanders
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31:46The episode brings Sir Patrick Sanders, a British military officer, back to discuss geopolitical issues, specifically focusing on the precarious state of global affairs today compared to the 1930s. The conversation delves into the complexities surrounding Donald Trump's foreign policy perceptions and Norway SWF's approach to defence sector exclusio…
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158: AI Unleashed: Scott Guthrie of Microsoft, on Transforming Productivity, Finance, Energy, and Regulation
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55:14Technological revolutions are by their nature rare events: the printing press, mobile telephony and the internet. The associated excitement can capture the imagination, spur a raft of associated breakthroughs, encourage investors to dream of extraordinary returns, yet their byproduct is often to create excessive short-term exuberance, and expectati…
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Conversations: The Evolution of Asset-Backed Finance with Armen Panossian, Brendan Beer, and Jennifer Marques
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34:34In the latest episode of The Insight: Conversations, Armen Panossian (Co-CEO and Head of Performing Credit), Brendan Beer (Co-Portfolio Manager, Structured Credit and Asset-Backed Finance) and Jennifer Marques (Head of Strategy and Structuring, Asset-Backed Finance) discuss topics from the recently published Performing Credit Quarterly 3Q2024: Who …
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Performing Credit Quarterly 3Q2024: Who Are the Lenders Now?
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43:46In the latest Performing Credit Quarterly, Armen Panossian (Co-CEO and Head of Performing Credit) and Danielle Poli (Assistant Portfolio Manager, Global Credit) explore the next frontier of private credit: asset-backed finance. They discuss how major regulatory changes are causing traditional lenders to retrench from the space, leaving a significan…
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157: Gloves Off: Anthony Scaramucci on Trump, Harris, Bitcoin and the US Deficit
59:27
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59:27Four years ago we had the chance to record a US election special ahead of the vote to determine whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump became President. We welcomed Anthony Scaramucci; Harvard Law, Goldman Sachs, political fundraiser and, for 11 dramatic days, Donald Trump‘s Director of Communications. Since then he has developed his finance business, r…
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156: Joel Greenblatt: Legendary Investor and Author on Patience in the Investing Business
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46:02This recording took place at the London Value Investor Conference over summer, where Simon hosted a discussion with Joel Greenblatt. Joel not only founded and runs Gotham Asset Management, but was also an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School for 20+ years. Joel previously ran Gotham Capital, where he achieved 50% annualised returns between…
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In his latest memo, Howard Marks outlines the need to base asset allocation decisions around an established risk target. He describes the fundamental differences between ownership and debt, as well as the importance of finding the combination of the two that gets an investor’s portfolio to the desired position on the risk/return continuum. Finally,…
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155: Super Returns! Australia’s Largest Super Fund’s CIO, Mark Delaney, Describes Their Investment Priorities
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39:20Today we travel back to Melbourne, Australia, having had previous conversations with Ben Samild (now CIO of the AFF) & David Neal (CEO of IFM Investors). AustralianSuper, Australia’s largest super fund, manages approximately USD $230bn for 3.4m members. Mark Delaney has been at its helm as CIO for almost 20 years. Mark describes the goals, the orga…
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Conversations: Looking Beyond the Headlines with Robert O’Leary, Steve Tesoriere, Kenya Williams, and Nicole Adrien
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38:45Where are we currently in the credit cycle? Why might issuers be delaying their day of reckoning? And how are investors using demographic shifts to find new opportunities in the real estate market? In the latest episode of The Insight: Conversations, Robert O’Leary (co-CEO), Steve Tesoriere (Co-Portfolio Manager, Value Opportunities), Kenya William…
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The Roundup: Top Takeaways from Oaktree’s Quarterly Letters – September 2024 Edition
16:02
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16:02The Federal Reserve’s highly telegraphed interest rate cut in September has created a new market dynamic: interest rates are set to moderate, but perhaps not enough to help many companies still facing extraordinary debt burdens. In the current installment of The Roundup, Oaktree experts, including co-CEO Robert O’Leary, explore various topics relat…
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154: Sport Meets Finance! Investing in Liverpool FC, PSG, Boston Red Sox and F1 - With Ian Charles, Co-Founder of Arctos
1:12:41
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1:12:41Sovereign wealth funds, private equity, Hollywood actors; the world of sports has been undergoing an investing revolution. The last few years have seen a quantum increase of new investors, investing both in sports and even their governing bodies, raising questions about potential returns, the investment thesis and competition. Arctos is one of worl…
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In his latest memo, Howard Marks discusses the economic facts of life, as he examines the workings of free markets and what happens when they’re tampered with. He considers what “price-gouging” actually means and how rents should be set. He ultimately argues that the laws of economics shouldn’t be overridden — even when it’s politically advantageou…
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153: Colm Kelleher, Chairman of UBS & Former President of Morgan Stanley, Discusses Culture, Leadership, Surviving the Great Financial Crisis and UBS Today
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43:27In an interview we had especially looked forward to, and with the Credit Suisse acquisition behind us, the MMP went to Zurich to talk to Colm Kelleher. Described as one of the most influential and capable banking executives of the last several decades, he has been dubbed by the FT as 'Europe’s most powerful banker'. As Chairman of the UBS board, he…
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Conversations: The Changing Face of Private Credit at Oaktree Conference 2024
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39:37In this special edition of The Insight: Conversations, we’re airing an excerpt from the private credit panel held at Oaktree’s recent biannual client conference in London on May 15, 2024. Key members of Oaktree’s private credit platform discuss how the asset class has evolved in recent years and where it may be heading next. They explore the dramat…
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152: Sir Tony Blair, Former UK Prime Minister, on Leadership, Immigration, the Middle East & More!
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42:14Thought-provoking, amusing, self-critical, rich with anecdotes, laced with good advice, and large servings of humility, you might not automatically assume I’m describing the book, titled 'On Leadership', just published and written by Sir Tony Blair. The discussion starts with the essential need for a leader to identify the priorities, to determine …
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151: Volatility Laundering in Private Equity, the Merits of International Diversification, Value Vs Growth and Systematic Investing - With Cliff Asness
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1:18:01Simon introduces Cliff Asness, Co-Founder and CIO of AQR (Applied Quantitative Research), highlighting the firm's systematic approach to investing in a variety of assets. Cliff Asness shared his background, mentioning that he was initially an underachiever in school but transitioned to a highly driven person during college at the University of Penn…
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Behind The Memo: The Impact of Debt with Howard Marks and Morgan Housel
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39:14In this special episode of Behind the Memo, Howard Marks is joined by Morgan Housel, the bestselling author and partner at the Collaborative Fund. They discuss ideas from Howard’s recent memo “The Impact of Debt,” which was inspired by Morgan’s article “How I Think About Debt.” They explore the relationship between leverage and longevity, the natur…
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In his latest memo, Howard Marks discusses the reasons for the recent market volatility using one of finance’s classic metaphors: Mr. Market, the figure Benjamin Graham created in 1949 to explain the erratic nature of financial markets. Howard pulls together some of his best writing on investor psychology from the past three decades, adds some of h…
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