Quick shout out to AQR (a large US quantitative manager) who have a post out fighting the good fight against some of the big issues with funds with high levels of unlisted assets - this includes many of the large industry funds in Australia. Three of the key issues they raise:

For years, the RBA has argued that an economic recovery is "just around the corner" with wages and inflation about to increase. So far the RBA has been wrong - their preferred trimmed mean inflation has been below target for 3 years and counting. The issue is the penalty for being wrong during a ...

Elizabeth Knight has a look today at impact investing and millennials:

Another unfortunate stockbroker collapse announcement in Halifax Investment Management leaving thousands of clients with over $200 million frozen while administrators review the damage and evaluate the return of capital (which may take months).

Via UBS:

Environmental, social and governance investing, also known as ESG is a common way for investors to look to add ethics to their portfolio. A recent CLSA report highlights that ESG ratings are more akin to snake oil than medicine. The ESG ratings might not do you too much harm, but don't mistake them ...

Only when the tide goes out do you discover who has been swimming naked.

EIA put out a timely reminder of the big picture for US oil. There has never been more proved reserves or production:

The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies has an in-depth piece out on the cost of LNG plants, looking in detail at the drop in LNG construction costs and how maintainable the falls are in construction costs:

Fifteen months ago we started investing money for clients with a vision to bridge the gap in investment solutions for everyday people looking for the middle ground between cookie-cutter robo-advice and high-cost financial planning.