Fees and costs

Administration fees and costs are fees and costs that relate to the administration or operation of the superannuation entity and includes costs incurred by the trustee of the entity that:

1. relate to the administration or operation of the entity, and
2. are not otherwise charged as investment fees and costs, transaction costs, a buy-sell spread, a switching fee, an activity fee, an advice fee or an insurance fee.

Brighter Super

Regardless of how your super is invested or what kind of account you have, Brighter Super charges an administration fee of 0.18%* p.a. plus 0.03% p.a.

The 0.03% p.a. is not deducted from your account balance/investment returns but is deducted from the Fund’s General Reserve.

Administration fee rebate

The administration fee of 0.18% is subject to a limit of $900 in a financial year. Any administration fee charged above $900 across all eligible accounts, will be rebated to your account in the following financial year. All your accounts are eligible except for the Defined Benefit portion of a Defined Benefit account. If you hold more than one Brighter Super account at the time the administration rebate is applied, it will be paid in direct proportion to the account balance at that time.

Investment fees and costs are fees and costs that relate to the investment of the assets of a superannuation entity and includes:

1. fees in payment for the exercise of care and expertise in the investment of those assets (including performance fees), and
2. costs incurred by the trustee of the entity that:
   1. relate to the investment of assets of the entity, and
   2. are not otherwise charged as administration fees and costs, a buy-sell spread, a switching fee, an activity fee, an advice fee or an insurance fee.

Investment fees and costs relate to the management of your super into different assets. These fees vary depending on how your super is invested:

A fee is an insurance fee for a superannuation product if:

1. the fee relates directly to either or both of the following:
   1. insurance premiums paid by the trustee, or the trustees, of a superannuation entity in relation to a member or members of the entity,
   2. costs incurred by the trustee, or the trustees, of a superannuation entity in relation to the provision of insurance for a member or members of the entity, and
2. the fee does not relate to any part of a premium paid or cost incurred in relation to a life policy or a contract of insurance that relates to a benefit to the member that is based on the performance of an investment rather than the realisation of a risk, and
3. the premiums and costs to which the fee relates are not otherwise charged as administration fees and costs, investment fees and costs, transaction costs, a switching fee, an activity fee or an advice fee.

These costs (or ‘premiums’) are to cover any insurance cover you have with us. These fees are deducted from your account each month. For more information about our insurance offering, please refer to the relevant Insurance guide.

If you’re a member, you can login to your account to view your insurance cover and monthly premium.

Performance fees are payable when investment returns exceed an investment manager’s benchmark and form part of the investment fee. Generally, these fees are calculated as a percentage of the investment returns that exceed an agreed level of return. For some investments, if the investment returns are below each manager’s benchmark, no performance fee is payable until the underperformance has been made up.

The performance fees have been estimated by taking the average of the last five financial years. The actual amount you will be charged in each financial year will depend on the actual fees and costs incurred by the Trustee in managing the investment option/s for that financial year.

Performance fees are included in the investment fees and costs for each investment option – they are not charged separately.

The below table outlines the performance fee for each investment option and are included in the investment fees and costs shown above.

Administration and Investment fees cover the actual costs of administration and investment management paid out of Brighter Super and, as such, may vary from year to year. The actual investment fees deducted from investment earnings each financial year are reported to you in the Annual Report to members.

Before the start of each financial year Brighter Super estimates the Investment fees for the year ahead and these estimates only change where necessary to ensure costs are covered.

Brighter Super reserves the right to make changes to the fees and costs charged without your prior consent. We will notify you at least 30 days in advance if a change results in an increase in the fees and costs charged directly to your account.

A fee is an advice fee if:

1. the fee relates directly to costs incurred by the trustee of the superannuation entity because of the provision of financial product advice to a member by:
   1. a trustee of the entity; or
   2. another person acting as an employee of, or under an arrangement with, the trustee of the entity;
2. those costs are not otherwise charged as an administration fee and costs, an investment fee and costs, transaction costs, a buy-sell spread, a switching fee, an activity fee or an insurance cost.

In your Brighter Super account, you can authorise us to pay a personal advice fee to your financial adviser.

Financial advice fee

Brighter Super offers members intrafund advice as part of the administration fees and costs.

If you engage with a financial adviser and receive personal advice, the cost of this advice may be deducted from your account. Personal advice is where one or more of your personal objectives, financial situation and needs are considered when providing the advice. The financial adviser must also disclose the details of any advice fees in the Statement of Advice they provide to you. Brighter Super may at its discretion reduce or refuse to deduct a personal advice fee. Any personal advice fee may include GST.

For more detail on our financial advice services, please refer to our Financial Services Guide.

Transaction costs are costs associated with the sale and purchase of assets of the superannuation entity other than costs that are recovered by the superannuation entity charging buy-sell spreads.