A Bankruptcy Lawyer’s Blog

Honest Review – Distress Investing: Principles and Technique (Wiley Finance)

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Praise for Distress Investing

“Marty Whitman has distilled decades of distressed investing experience into a text that is a must-read for everyone interested in the field, whether a student or a professional investor.”
Wilbur L. Ross, Chairman and CEO, WL Ross & Co. LLC

“Distress Investing: Principles and Technique represents a detailed and unique perspective on an arcane arena of investment that is going to get a lot more attention. Marty Whitman is the master, and has set the standard for many years.”
Sam Zell, Chairman, Equity Group Investments, LLC

“Martin Whitman and Professor Diz have produced a seminal work on the ins and outs of distressed investing for all distressed debt investors. It is jam-packed with information and guidance for the novice and the experienced. A must-read for anyone interested in distressed investing.”
Lewis Kruger, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP

“Marty Whitman, a legend in distress investing, packs decades of experience into these pages. The restructuring of the capital markets currently under way is sure to provide great distress investment opportunities, which this guide book can make count for you.”
Bruce Flatt, Brookfield Asset Management Inc.

“The principles found in this book are those I used in the reorganization of my business from bankruptcy to an S&P 500 company with an investment grade rating and a multibillion-dollar market capitalization. An excellent premier by Marty Whitman and Professor Diz, integrating economic theory with real-world investment to help investors of all shapes and sizes understand and invest in distressed securities.”
Gene Isenberg, Chairman and CEO, Nabors Industries, Inc.

“Marty Whitman, the unquestioned ‘Dean’ of active distressed investors, and Fernando Diz, one of the few academics specializing in distressed investing, have teamed up to provide perhaps the best and most comprehensive primer on distressed securities and markets. I learned so much from this remarkable volume.”
Edward I. Altman, Max L. Heine Professor of Finance, NYU Stern School of Business, Director of credit and debt markets research at the NYU Salomon Center and adviser to several financial institutions including, Paulson & Co. and Concordia Advisers

Review:

First it should be noted that this book is not for the casual weekend investor but for the more serious investor willing to get their hands a little dirty. Also, much like Mr. Whitman’s classic book “Aggressive Conservative Investor”, this book too is not necessarily set up to read in series or chronologically as one can if one wishes to start with sections that interest them the most. Also like the aforementioned classic, this book also provides considerable space devoted to describing the real world faced by both the outsiders and the insiders with respect to where their interests and incentives are most likely set. Understanding the viewpoints of both the insiders, whether corporate management or the directors, and the outsiders, whether control investors, the banker, the financier, the short-term traders, or that of the outside passive investor will help you along your way in understanding what may be happening in the market and why. Why? – because one needs to understand the view of the interested parties perspective and that one may temporarily have leverage over the other.

With that cautionary note, the reader can gain some great insights into the somewhat hidden world of how the bankruptcy process works. With the ample examples and historical perspective that the authors bring to the table, the reader will gain more understanding of what is going on versus what one may read in the daily headlines of the pre-filing, or the post-filing, of the bankruptcy proceedings.

All in this book provides one with some safeguards in regards to what to invest in and what to look out for while investigating distressed opportunities. “Distressed Investing” also still sticks to the Safe & Cheap philosophy advocated by both the authors and from the framework of Benjamin Graham.