Editorial Standards
Version 1.0 — 28 May 2026.
Universal Asset Owners publishes research, analysis, commentary, audio and video for institutional audiences. The platform also runs sponsored research, partner content, and private convening. This page sets out the rules that govern editorial work, the disclosures we make, and the routes by which a reader can challenge or correct us.
Credibility is the asset. These standards are written to be enforced, not admired.
Independence
Universal Asset Owners is independently owned. We accept no equity investment, board observer rights, or pre-publication review from any sovereign wealth fund, pension fund, endowment, foundation, asset manager, bank, broker, consultant, exchange, data provider, law firm, or government we cover. Where any commercial relationship exists with a party we cover, it is disclosed by name on the Ownership & Funding page and on every piece it touches.
Editorial decisions — what we cover, who we interview, how we frame and conclude — sit with the editorial side. Commercial revenue is firewalled from those decisions. A sponsor does not see editorial work before publication and does not influence it after. If a sponsor asks for influence, the relationship ends and the request is disclosed on the affected piece.
Sourcing
We prefer primary documents — fund annual reports, regulator filings, hearing testimony, legislative text, academic working papers, public statements made on the record — over second-hand commentary. Where we cite a primary source, we link it. Where the original is paywalled or behind a registration wall, we note that.
We use anonymous sourcing only when the information is material and could not otherwise be reported, and we describe the source as precisely as is consistent with protecting them ("a senior official at a top-ten sovereign wealth fund", not "a person familiar with the matter").
Where we have not been able to verify a claim, we say so. Where we make a forecast or scenario, we state it as one and show the inputs.
Labelling
Editorial, sponsored content, and partner research are visually and structurally distinct.
- Editorial carries no sponsor logo or banner.
- Sponsored content carries a visible Sponsored or Partner Content tag at the top of the post, a standing disclosure naming the sponsor, and an explicit line stating the sponsor did not direct or review the work before publication.
- Partner research — co-authored or co-produced with a named outside party — carries both bylines, the partner's role, and the nature of any financial relationship.
Sponsored and partner items are excluded from the homepage lead, from the daily brief, and from the UAO Research stream unless separately labelled. Sponsor-supported events are labelled as such on the Briefings & Roundtables page and in their post-event coverage.
AI in our workflow
Universal Asset Owners uses AI tools — large language models for drafting and research, image and video generation tools for visuals, and speech synthesis for the daily podcast — across the editorial workflow. The expanded policy is on the Methodology page. In summary:
- AI is never a byline. Every piece is the work of, and the responsibility of, a human editor.
- AI-assisted material is labelled. Daily automated pieces carry the line "AI-assisted; editorially reviewed before release."
- AI does not source. We do not cite or quote AI output. Citations come from primary documents or named human sources, verified by a human.
- AI images are labelled where the depiction could be mistaken for a photograph of a real event or person.
- AI-synthesised voices are labelled at the top of any episode that uses them.
Corrections
We correct material errors in a published post within twenty-four hours of becoming aware of them. The correction is noted on the affected post and logged on the Corrections page with the date, the post, and the substance of the change. We do not silently re-edit a published post.
Where the error is in a podcast, video, or briefing, we publish a correction note on the post page and, where the original asset is being re-distributed, re-cut it.
To report a possible error, write to info@universalassetowners.com.
Conflicts of interest
Our Ethics & Conflicts of Interest policy sets out the rules covering gifts, share ownership, freelance work, family ties, and political activity. In summary:
- Editorial staff do not own securities of issuers they cover directly. Disclosure of broader holdings is filed with the Standards Editor.
- We do not accept gifts, hospitality, or paid travel from parties we cover above a stated threshold; where we receive paid travel to cover an event, it is disclosed on the resulting piece.
- Family ties or close personal relationships with parties we cover are disclosed and trigger a recusal where material.
Not investment advice
Universal Asset Owners publishes research and commentary for institutional audiences. Nothing on the platform is, or is intended to be, an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security, fund, or product. Market content carries an explicit "Not investment advice" line. Readers who act on what they read here do so on their own account.
Convening rules
UAO roundtables, dinners, and private briefings run under the Chatham House Rule: participants may use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of any speaker may be revealed. Our coverage of these events follows the same rule. Where a speaker has waived the Rule in advance and in writing, we name them.
Governance
The standard is owned by the Standards Editor. A reader who believes a piece falls short of this standard can write to info@universalassetowners.com.
Contact
- All editorial and commercial enquiries — info@universalassetowners.com
All inbound correspondence is read by a human.