Howard Marks: AI, Debt vs Equity & The Next 40 Years Of Investing | Nikhil Kamath | WTF is Finance?

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

May 4, 2026

Duration

1h 43m

Channel

Nikhil Kamath

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

I sat down with Howard Marks, the co-founder of Oaktree and the man who has been writing the memos every serious investor on earth opens first for over thirty years, and what was supposed to be a conversation about debt and cycles became a conversation about how anyone gets above-average at anything in a world where everyone smart is already trying — we covered why he picked bonds over stocks for an entire career and got rich doing the opposite of what everyone wanted to do, why the S&P returns 10% a year but almost never between 8 and 12, why he changed his mind on AI after a single conversation with Claude, what AI can't do that great investors still can, why he thinks India's biggest export business sits in the crosshairs of AI, and where the $10 bill nobody has picked up is hiding right now. 00:00 Introduction 02:05 From Queens to Wharton beginnings 08:10 Mujo and independence of events 15:17 Why cycles exist in markets 22:09 Pandemic, recessions, and recovery age 28:38 Where we are today 36:08 Drifting versus seeing the river 42:57 Oak Tree and accidental entrepreneurship 49:45 Why bonds over equities 57:14 Distressed bonds and excess returns 1:05:36 Beginning a new career today 1:12:42 Active management versus indexation 1:20:08 Learning from Andrew, second level thinking 1:27:25 How to become contrarian and better 1:34:28 Learning from history, final advice #NikhilKamath Co-founder of Zerodha and Gruhas Host of 'WTF is' & 'People By WTF' Podcast Twitter: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcio/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/ #HowardMarks Co-founder and co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardmarksbook/ Twitter: https://x.com/HowardMarksBook Watch 'WTF is' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4nsm4ezn Watch 'People by WTF' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/yme92c59 Watch 'WTF Online' on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4tjua4th #WTFiswithnikhilkamath #PeopleByWTF #WTFOnline

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Nikhil Kamath

  host

  Indian investor and entrepreneur; host of “WTF is with Nikhil Kamath”.

• Howard Marks

  guest

  Co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management and investing author known for memos and books like “The Most Important Thing.”

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Nikhil Kamath, featuring Nikhil Kamath and Howard Marks, Howard Marks: AI, Debt vs Equity & The Next 40 Years Of Investing | Nikhil Kamath | WTF is Finance? explores howard Marks on cycles, credit discipline, AI, and investing humility Howard Marks describes his path from a middle-class Queens upbringing through Wharton and the University of Chicago to a career shaped heavily by serendipity, including his move into bonds and high-yield credit.

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