Weekend reading: Some reads for when the sun goes down

Our articles from this week, plus whatever else caught my eye.

From Monevator

We’ve another freshly laundered broker comparison table for you – Monevator

Lars Kroijer makes the case for DIY financial modelling – Monevator

Out of the archive-ator: How to work out which platform is cheapest for you – Monevator

News

Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view these enable you to click through to read the piece without being a paid subscriber.¹

The stock market is up, but a lot of high-end goods and assets are lower – Bloomberg

The great London property squeeze [Long read] – Guardian

Morgan Stanley predicts only a handful of robo-advisor start-ups will survive – Business Insider

Most people will have to work until 70, says the World Economic Forum – Guardian

Proof! CEOs hurt companies by playing too much golf – CNBC

Evil EU bans rip-off mobile roaming charges, but will deal survive Brexit? – Guardian

Goldman Sachs research finds ‘factor investing’ is trending – Joe Weisenthal on Twitter

Products and services

Zopa will offer ISAs from next month, but it’s set to scrap its Safeguard protection – Telegraph

Bitcoin is up 180% in 2017; £1.38 of Bitcoin in 2010 is now worth a million – ThisIsMoney

The best value SIM-only smartphone deals – ThisIsMoney

Religious ETFs are coming to the bond market – Bloomberg

Vanguard LifeStrategy 60: Two-year update – DIY Investor (UK)

Crunching the numbers on Vanguard’s new direct platform – ThisIsMoney

The People’s Investment Trust has picked its five active asset managers – Telegraph

Comment and opinion

Good investing is easier and cheaper than ever, but are lower returns the cost? – Of Dollars and Data

The West’s wealthy Millennials are right to scrounge off mum and dad – Financial Samurai

A backlash-let: Vanguard’s ‘irritating’ perch on the moral high ground – Bloomberg

Martin Lewis: The hidden thousands parents pay for university living expenses [Search result] – FT

Alternative asset allocation in retirement – Wade Pfau

If you want to invest virtuously, you’ll have to accept lower returns – AQR

Curious idea: ‘Mononational ETFs’, to enable stricter geographic diversification – Abnormal Returns

The burden of wealth (or winning the lottery…) – The FIREStarter

Is efficient market theory becoming more efficient? – The Economist

How can we buy the freehold of our flats? [Search result] – FT

Beware the pseudo-quants – The Mathematical Investor

How investors are using Smart Beta funds – ETF.com

Market predictions are a fool’s errand… – Investing Caffeine

…and beware charts that tell you what will happen next – The Value Perspective

A handful of barriers to entry are still left in the markets – A Wealth of Common Sense

High-conviction and new money purchases from the ‘ultimate’ stockpickers – Morningstar

How giant pension funds and other investors are looking for an edge – Institutional Investor

Off our beat

It’s never too early to fire someone – Lars Dalgaard

You never have time, only intentions – Raptitude

Deep trouble: How to improve the health of the ocean – The Economist

Older Americans are more Millennial than Millennials – The Atlantic

And finally

“Turning humans into space colonizers is Elon Musk’s stated life purpose. ‘I would like to think that humanity has a bright future,’ Musk said. ‘If we can solve sustainable energy and be on our way to becoming a multi-planetary species with a self-sustaining civilization on another planet – to cope with a worst-case happening and extinguishing human consciousness – then,’ and here he paused for a moment, ‘I think that would be really good.’

“If some of the things Musk says and does sound absurd, that’s because on one level they very much are. On this occasion, for instance, Musk’s assistant had just handed him some cookies-and-cream ice cream with sprinkles on top, and then he talked earnestly about saving humanity while a blotch of the dessert hung from his lower lip.”
– Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk

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1. Note some articles can only be accessed through the search results if you’re using PC/desktop view (from mobile/tablet view they bring up the firewall/subscription page). To circumvent, switch your mobile browser to use the desktop view. On Chrome for Android: press the menu button followed by “Request Desktop Site”.

from Monevator http://monevator.com/weekend-reading-some-reads-for-when-the-sun-goes-down/