A highly respected superannuation fund research house “Chant West” released a report in early June 2013 stating that “fee disclosure has long been a weakness in the Australian super industry. Incomplete and inconsistent disclosure has made it hard for researchers, let alone consumers, to compare funds on a like with like basis“.
Chant West went on to say:
In 2007, we first reported on what we called the ?ussian Doll Syndrome? we found that the typical growth fund with a typical asset allocation was understating its fees by about 30 basis points on average. Given that total reported management costs at the time were in the range of 60 to 80 basis points, this represented a difference of about 30% to 35% between the fund? ?rue?fees and what it was actually disclosing.
One of the main areas where fees regarding disclosure were not being completed was: