Billionaire Howard Marks’ share portfolio revealed
Howard Marks is the co-founder and co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, the world’s largest investor in distressed securities.
Funds led by Marks have produced long-term returns of 19% per year. His personal net worth is $2.2 billion.
Marks attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated cum laude with a major in finance and a minor in Japanese Philosophy.
While it seems like an odd combination on the surface, Marks regards his minor as very formative to prime his mind to think differently from other investors.
He also earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and is a CFA charter holder.
Due to the nature of investing in distressed securities, Marks puts risk management at the centre of his fund’s investment strategy.
He aims to have average returns during a bull market while minimizing losses during bear markets. It forms part of his belief that losses do more harm than the benefit from gains.
Marks is admired in the investment community for his memos posted on the Oaktree website, which detail his investment strategies and insight into the economy.
He has also published three books on investing:
- The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor
- The Most Important Thing Illuminated: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor
- Mastering the Market Cycle: Getting the Odds on Your Side
Even Warren Buffett is an avid reader of his material, commenting that he always learns something from it.
In 2012, Oaktree became a public company via an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange, raising $380 million by selling 8.84 million shares for $43 each.
In 2019, Brookfield Asset Management acquired 62% of Oaktree. Marks and other members of Oaktree retained 38% of the company and have full control of Oaktree’s day-to-day operations.
Oaktree’s share portfolio
In the last quarter, Oaktree started new positions in Sitio Royaltie and PagSeguro Digital.
It increased its stake in Vale, the Invesco Senior Income Trust, Valaris, and the Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund.
Oaktree cut back on its positions in PG&E Corp, ICICI Bank, Petroleo Brasileiro, Vista Oil & Gas, Mr. Cooper Group, Cvent Holding Corp, and Pampa Energia.
The table below shows Oaktree’s top 54 share positions which make up 91% of its portfolio as of 30 September 2022.
| Name | Value ($ Million) | Portfolio Weight |
| Torm PLC | $1,104 | 14.9% |
| Chesapeake Energy | $923 | 12.5% |
| Vistra Corp | $533 | 7.2% |
| Star Bulk Carriers | $455 | 6.2% |
| PG&E Corp | $309 | 4.2% |
| Sitio Royaltie | $286 | 3.9% |
| Runway Growth Finance Corp | $239 | 3.2% |
| SunOpta | $189 | 2.6% |
| Weatherford International | $186 | 2.5% |
| Ally Financial | $170 | 2.3% |
| Hertz Global Holdings | $170 | 2.3% |
| Eagle Bulk Shipping | $163 | 2.2% |
| ita Unibanco Holding | $136 | 1.8% |
| Infinera Corp | $122 | 1.7% |
| Vale | $116 | 1.6% |
| NMI Holdings | $108 | 1.5% |
| CBL & Associates | $102 | 1.4% |
| Frontier Communications Parent | $93 | 1.3% |
| Berry Petroleum Corp | $87 | 1.2% |
| ICICI Bank | $85 | 1.2% |
| Petroleo Brasileiro | $84 | 1.1% |
| AngloGold Ashanti | $70 | 1.0% |
| Kilroy Realty Corp | $68 | 0.9% |
| Freeport-McMoran | $67 | 0.9% |
| Civitas Resources | $66 | 0.9% |
| Chesapeake Energy (Warrants) | $59 | 0.8% |
| Cemex | $50 | 0.7% |
| Credicorp | $48 | 0.6% |
| Alvotech | $43 | 0.6% |
| Banco Bradesco | $43 | 0.6% |
| Par Pacific Holdings | $36 | 0.5% |
| Azul | $36 | 0.5% |
| Battalion Oil Corp | $36 | 0.5% |
| Liberty Global | $31 | 0.4% |
| Fortress Transportation | $30 | 0.4% |
| Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp | $30 | 0.4% |
| Vista Oil & Gas | $27 | 0.4% |
| Toll Brothers | $25 | 0.3% |
| Invesco Senior Income Trust | $25 | 0.3% |
| Mr. Cooper Group | $23 | 0.3% |
| MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp | $23 | 0.3% |
| Uniti Group | $23 | 0.3% |
| PulteGroup | $23 | 0.3% |
| Cvent Holding Corp | $21 | 0.3% |
| Garrett Motion | $20 | 0.3% |
| PagSeguro Digital | $20 | 0.3% |
| Afya | $20 | 0.3% |
| Hims & Hers Health | $18 | 0.3% |
| Valaris | $18 | 0.3% |
| Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund | $17 | 0.2% |
| Ocwen Financial Corp | $16 | 0.2% |
| Pampa Energia | $16 | 0.2% |
| KB Home | $16 | 0.2% |
| MGIC Investment | $15 | 0.2% |
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