On February 25, 2025, the Wharton Club of New York sponsored a “Fireside Chat” with Howard Marks, Beta Pi ’64. The event was sold out. Brother Marks’ financial advice is sought after by many of America’s largest and most influential investors.
Brother Marks has endowed numerous professorships and scholarships at Penn. The Penn internet publication, Knowledge for Good, summarizes his involvement with Penn and the communities he serves, both financially and service-oriented, as follows,
“Marks has contributed to people and programs across the University, including the Howard Marks Professorship for faculty in economic history…as well as the Howard Marks Endowed Scholarship, which supports diverse undergraduate students residing in Los Angeles and Southern California. He established the Howard Marks Investor Speaker Series at Wharton to bring the insights of investors to campus for the undergraduate and MBA communities. He recently endowed the Marks Family Center for Excellence in Writing at Penn Arts & Sciences, a university-wide resource dedicated to teaching writing and creating a community of writers across Penn’s undergraduate schools.
Marks has led a career in finance and is the co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management. He is an accomplished writer and the author of two books: The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor and Mastering the Market Cycle: Getting the Odds on Your Side. He earned his undergraduate degree in finance cum laude from the Wharton School in 1967, and his MBA in accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he received the George Hay Brown Prize. He is a CFA® charter-holder. Marks is a trustee and a member of the Investment Committee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a member of the investment Committee of the Royal Drawing School, and a Professor of Practice at King’s Business School (both in London). He serves on the Shanghai International Financial Advisory Board of Duke Kunshan University.”
CFA is an acronym for Chartered Financial Analyst, one of the highest distinctions in the investment management profession. Duke Kunshan University is located in China. In recent years, on occasions that he needed to return to Penn, brother Marks has visited the Chapter House at 3916 Spruce to speak with the undergraduates.
