As you noted, both investment managers and wealth managers [who hire the investment managers] have brought this problem on themselves by TRAINING their clients to focus on poorly designed or irrelevant benchmarks. The creation of an infinite number of benchmarks, regardless of utility or statistical validity, is a classic example of the tail wagging the dog.

The truth is, any asset class that cannot be reasonably indexed should be considered as an absolute return vehicle. The active management fee is just the price of admission, just like DisneyWorld! :)

Back in the day, I would simply compare myself to the S&P 500 as essentially that's the cheapest "monkey throwing darts" benchmark that everyone has access to. If I couldn't do better after my fees, regardless of what my portfolio had in it, then I didn't deserve to have a business.

You write with an excellent voice, I am casting my vote that you pursue this topic further!

Best regards...