Sure, but the vast majority of Aus retail holders don't directly...

Sure, but the vast majority of Aus retail holders don't directly hold non-ASX listed stocks, so you're in the minority.

Comparing LCA to Burford is, with respect, nonsensical - yeah, they operate in the same industry, but Burford is the runaway industry behemoth while LCA is one of dozens of unlisted & listed guys around the world scrambling to aggregate capital.

Despite Burford's runaway success, the UK is hardly the panacea to cost of capital woes for litigation funders - in fact, Vannin Capital (who are probably #2 or #3 in the world behind Burford and IMF Bentham) postponed their UK IPO just a few weeks ago because they couldn't get the price they wanted! I personally suspect it has less to do with cost of capital, and more to do with the more relaxed regulatory regime of the AIM.