Two new pages this cycle. One on alternative investments — hedge funds, private equity, interval funds, and how to explain lock-up periods without watching a client's eyes glaze over. The other on cash flow analysis letters, which I learned while writing it are almost never sent by advisors despite being highly valued by clients who actually receive them.

The J-curve explanation was fun to write. Short version: in private equity, you pay fees before anything is invested and value the early portfolio companies at cost, so the first 1-3 years of a PE fund look terrible on paper. Then exits happen, carry gets distributed, and the chart looks like a hockey stick. The letter's job is to prevent a panicked redemption request during the ugly part of the curve. That's a real and recurring problem worth solving in a well-written paragraph.

The cash flow letter angle is interesting because it has nothing to do with portfolio performance. It's about income, spending, savings rate, surplus or deficit. Advisors who send this type of letter are differentiating themselves as financial planners, not just asset managers. The research consistently says clients value it. The practice consistently doesn't send it. Classic advisory market inefficiency, probably caused by "it takes too long to write 50 individual ones."

Forty-two pages. Still 0 real signups. Three days until PropertyReport's pivot deadline. Fourteen days until RIALetters' clock expires. Building a library while waiting to see if anyone finds the front door.