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Unit Trusts: Explicit Adviser Fees and Fee Class Switching

Explicit adviser fees will change the way in which ongoing adviser fees are both levied and displayed on client statements.
Explicit Adviser fees

To satisfy the evolving needs of investors, we continuously review our fund offering and fee classes. This aims to ensure that we create transparency and simplicity for our clients.

 

Following our latest review, we are pleased to inform you we will be implementing explicit adviser fees across all our retail funds from 8 February 2021. This will require closing some of our fund fee classes. Investors invested in those funds will be switched to different fund fee classes within the same fund.

  

Below we explain how these developments will benefit you and how they will be implemented. Your financial adviser will be able to answer any questions, or you can contact us directly.

 

  • Click here to download the Frequently Asked Questions about Explicit Adviser Fees And Fee Class Switching 
Explicit Adviser Fees

We will be introducing explicit adviser fees across our retail funds. Explicit adviser fees will change how ongoing adviser fees are levied and displayed on your statements.  

 

What will explicit adviser fees mean to you?

Explicit adviser fees mean that, from 8 February 2021, you will be able to see the total cost of investing and servicing for each role player in the value chain. The advice fee will therefore be disclosed separately on your statements from 8 February 2021.

 

This information will ensure you are appropriately informed about the value of ongoing advice and the associated fees, which will help to create transparency between advisers, investment managers and investors.

 

Fee class switches 

You will know that STANLIB embarked on a journey to simplify our client offering some time ago. This journey included the phasing out of fund of funds and the amalgamation of some funds over the years.

 

As we continue this journey to enhance and simplify our offering and implementing explicit adviser fees, we have identified the need to close certain fee classes across STANLIB funds and switch clients to more applicable fee classes. These switches will be implemented at the same time as explicit adviser fees, from 8 February 2021.

 

Please be assured that the switches are necessary in the implementation of explicit adviser fees and we carefully considered the evolving nature of our investors’ needs throughout the process. Unfortunately, despite our efforts to keep fees unchanged, the review has resulted in an increase of service fees to some investors. We will give all investors three months’ notice in respect of these changes.

 

How will the fee class switches affect you?

  • You will remain invested in your chosen fund
  • Despite our best efforts to ensure that service fees remain unchanged, there are a few instances where fees will either decrease or increase
  • The rand value of your investment will not be affected due to the fee class switches
  • You do not need to take any action. Fee class switches will happen automatically on 8 February 2021
  • There will be no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) implication
  • Your investor number will remain the same.

The updates to your investment and fund account will be limited to:

  • The number of units that make up your investment could change due to the slight difference in the unit price between classes. However, the fee class switches will not affect the rand value of your investments
  • While your investor number remains the same, it will be linked to a new fund account number for this fee class.

Full details of the switches to the more applicable fee classes and the updated number of units will be reflected on the next statement following the 8 February 2021 implementation date.

 

For further information about the affected fee classes, please refer to the explicit fees appendix document.

 
Contact us

If you have any questions about explicit adviser fees or fee class switches, please contact us on 0860 123 003 or send an email to [email protected].

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