Welcome to the 12th CONKERS’ CORNER. In this interview I have the pleasure of speaking with Nicolas Marx @marxnd on Twitter.

After completing his Apprenticeship in the Hospitality Industry, Nicolas went onto study at Hotel School in Germany. It was during this time that he became curious as to where those in Hotel investing and Operations got their funding. His curiosity led him into the Investment Industry firstly with Merrill Lynch in Commodities trading & Retail Brokerage. Then with Credit Suisse (First Boston) in their Mergers and Acquisitions Team and Private Equity specialising in the Real Estate and Hospitality Sector.

Nicolas states that the first stock that he held was HOST MARRIOTT. He explains that he was gifted 100 shares as a young man from his Dad. Although he describes himself as a contrarian that likes high risk, decades on and many share-splits later Nicolas still has Marriott stock in his long-term portfolio.

When First Boston was dismantled, Nicolas decided to set up his own shop. The year was 1997 and aged just 30 years of age Nicolas set up NMCO, his very own Boutique Investment Bank. Which he describes as being “in the intersection between Investment Banking and Private Equity”, specialising in Turnaround, Restructuring and Structuring.

Nicolas’s passion for Corporate Finance, Private Equity, Real Estate and the Hospitality Industry leads him to travel globally. It is just as well that he speaks Spanish, English, German and Italian. AGILIENCE who measure professional influencers have rated Nicolas within the Top 100 Private equity fund authorities, covering also Private equity and Mergers & Acquisitions.

Nicolas recommends that all those that are interested in successful long-term investing should read the memos from Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital Management. Nicolas is a vastly experienced and accomplished Private Equity investor and he stresses the importance of “Second Level Thinking” and questioning everything. Listen now to gain insights into how he uses in depth research to run his Boutique Investment Bank and Fund, learn also from the lessons in his investing journey.