In his latest memo, Howard Marks discusses recent attempts to rein in long-dated government bond yields. He affirms that the only sustainable solution is responding to the underlying factors pushing interest rates up, even if politically uncomfortable. Any other method simply represents an attempt to override the laws of economics – and that never works.

In his latest memo, Howard Marks discusses the evolution of the sub-investment grade credit market from its beginnings in the 1970s to its present state. He focuses on the rise of direct lending following the Global Financial Crisis, identifying the reasons for its fast growth but also the issues created by rapid capital deployment. Looking ahead, he describes the entwined fates of direct lending and private equity, with the performance of private equity portfolio companies being a key determiner of the future success of direct loans.

You can read the memo here (https://www.oaktreecapital.com/insights/memo/whats-going-on-in-private-credit).

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In this special episode of The Insight: Conversations, Howard Marks shares his reflections on themes from Oaktree’s recent client conference, including the evolution of the credit markets, the nature of mispricings, and the importance of leadership.