If you’ve been reading this column for a while, you’ll recall I’m not a big fan of the fund structures employed in the private wealth advisory marketplace regarding front-end loads.

Every penny an investor has to pay to access one of these funds is a penny that isn’t going into real estate, infrastructure, energy, timber, commodity, maritime, aviation or agricultural investments. I also have difficulty understanding why investors should pay for distribution costs, including organization costs, reallowances and other fees that, in the institutional market, are borne by the investment manager or program sponsor.

This raises the bar for the investment managers responsible for delivering the promised investment returns to the investor.  With up-front costs ranging between 3.5 percent and 8 percent, this means the investment manager has to compete for assets in the marketplace at between 92 cents and 96.5 cents on the dollar against institutional managers who can b