Certainly can't agree that the LIC model is broken. There are...

Certainly can't agree that the LIC model is broken. There are some very good LICs out there with very capable managers that have been very good value of late. The secret is to sort the good from the bad. I wouldn't really consider BLA and HML to be true LICs and I certainly put them in the high risk category from day one.

AFI, ARG and the like have cheap fees but you are paying over the NTA to buy in so sort of defeats the purpose. For mine, the time to be buying ETFs , or ARG which I almost consider a proxy ETF is after a market crash. I think paying over the odds or buying ETFs at this point in the cycle is full of danger. DIY for a diversified portfolio is almost impossible unless you are doing it full time , and as I learnt a long time ago it is impossible to have the insight into companies that a full time fund manager has.

Nothing wrong with paying fees for your money to be managed professionally. It's not just about performance on the positive side but also protection on the downside. I have no problem paying 1% and performance fees for a good manager.

Despite the warnings there was a lot of people that were gung ho on HML, and anyone that offered an alternative opinion was shouted down. The beauty about stocks like HML and BLA, is it gives people an opportunity to look for the warnings signs when investing money in the future. There were plenty of red flags being waved and many people chose to ignore them.

LICs that have been good value in the last six to twelve months , in my opinion, are PAI, PGF, FGX, PIC, APL and I have been buying. There are plenty of other good LICs that have been good value too, in my opinion. What is needed is a clear head and plenty of patience.