How we are making our fees and costs easier to understand
22 June 2022
5
min read
At Australian Retirement Trust, we’re changing the way we disclose fees and costs in our product disclosure statements to meet new government regulations designed to make superannuation funds’ fees and costs more transparent and comparable.
Australian Retirement Trust is the super fund formed through the merger of QSuper and Sunsuper.
We’re one of Australia’s largest super funds and proud to take care of over $200 billion in retirement savings for more than two million members.
We’re committed to returning profits to members as lower fees and better services, as the less you pay in fees on your super account the more you could have to live your best retirement.
We will be moving to the new disclosures from 1 July 2022, although the government only requires funds to comply from 30 September 2022.
What’s changing
We’ll disclose fees and costs in three categories:
- Administration fees and costs
- Investment fees and costs
- Transaction costs.
This simplifies how we present the fees and costs in member statements (Annual and Exit Statements).
These fees and costs groups also determine what is called a ‘Cost of Product’.
The Cost of Product is the ongoing annual fees and costs that can affect your superannuation investment over a one-year period for each investment option. Funds will show an example of Cost of Product using a $50,000 account balance for each investment option so you can compare fees and costs between funds.
In addition, we’ll disclose amounts used from the Fund reserves to meet expenses, which exceed the amounts credited to the reserve in the previous financial year.
So, our administration fees and costs disclosure includes both the administration fees deducted from a member’s account, and additional amounts from reserves used to cover the costs of managing accounts.
Example of annual fees and costs for the QSuper Accumulation account
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EXAMPLE — QSuper Accumulation account (Lifetime Outlook)
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BALANCE OF $50,000
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Administration fees and costs1
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0.22% p.a.
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For every $50,000 you have in the superannuation product you will be charged or have deducted from your investment $110 in administration fees and costs
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PLUS
Investment fees and costs
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0.60% p.a.
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And, you will be charged or have deducted from your investment $300 in investment fees and costs
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PLUS
Transaction costs
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0.03% p.a.
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And, you will be charged or have deducted from your investment $15 in transaction costs
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EQUALS
Cost of product
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If your balance was $50,000, at the beginning of the year, then for that year you will be charged fees and costs of $425 for the superannuation product.
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Note: Additional fees may apply
Example of annual fees and costs for the QSuper Income account
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EXAMPLE — QSuper Income Account
(Balanced option)
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BALANCE OF $50,000
|
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Administration fees and costs1
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0.22% p.a.
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For every $50,000 you have in the superannuation product you will be charged or have deducted from your investment $110 in administration fees and costs
|
|
PLUS
Investment fees and costs
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0.53% p.a.
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And, you will be charged or have deducted from your investment $265 in investment fees and costs
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PLUS
Transaction costs
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0.03% p.a.
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And, you will be charged or have deducted from your investment $15 in transaction costs
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EQUALS
Cost of product
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If your balance was $50,000, at the beginning of the year, then for that year you will be charged fees and costs of $390 for the superannuation product.
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Note: Additional fees may apply
The fees that apply specifically to your account will be detailed in your Member Benefit Statement, which can be viewed through Member Online
1. This amount includes fees and costs paid from reserves of
0.07%, which are not charged directly to the member’s account. This amount also includes a Trustee fee that is held separately in a trustee capital reserve.