InvestSMART's new fee structure

Ever since I joined InvestSMART five years ago, we've been capping fees so that unlike other fund managers, what you pay for our service doesn't keep getting more expensive the more money you give us to look after. 

The principle is simple, and powerful: The "product" you're buying is an investment return, and the amount you pay for it reduces the return you're buying. The higher the price, the more it reduces the "product".  

There is no other product where the price you pay eats into the value of the product itself. With most things, a comforting cliché applies: you get what you pay for - the more you pay for something the better it generally is. 

But something has always bothered us about our deal - we haven't been able to include brokerage. Our fee is 0.55%, capped at $550, plus brokerage of $4.40 or 0.44%, whichever is greater. 

We had to do that because the brokerage we pay for on your behalf isn't capped. It would be a quick trip to the poorhouse if we capped a fee that wasn't capped for us. 

So, we've decided to restructure our fees to incorporate all buy-side brokerage - meaning you won't have to pay extra for it.

To do this, from 1 April we are reducing the basic fee to 0.44%, capped at $880, which includes brokerage on new investments and top-ups. However, we're adding a new administration fee of 0.11%, which will be uncapped. This will cover all buy-side brokerage and help us continue building the best platform experience and investment tools for our customers whilst maintaining low fees.

For most clients, these changes will result in lower fees. For a few with high balances, however, it may be more expensive, depending on the number of annual transactions.

With our digital advice, direct ownership of shares and low fees, we're still the best value in the market and including brokerage for everyone will make investing simpler. 

You can learn more about our fee changes here. If you have any questions, please call our Member Services team on 1300 880 160.