Howard Marks: What investors can learn from sports betters

Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital outlines seven reasons why success in investing requires similar skills to being successful in sports (and sports betting). 1) For most participants, success is likely to lie in discipline, consistency and minimization of error, rather than in bold strokes. 2) In order to be superior a player has to do something different from the others and has to have an appropriate level of confidence that he can succeed at it. 3) Because of the significant role played by randomness, a small sample of results is far from sure to be indicative of talent. 4) The goal for bettors is to see value in assets that others haven’t yet recognised. 5) At first it seems effort and common sense will lead to success but these often prove to be unavailing. 6) Most people can’t see future outcomes much better than anyone else, but few are aware of this limitation. 7) Before a participant enters any game, he should assess his chances of winning and whether they justify the price to play. Full note available here: (VIEW LINK)