fees and costs

Our administration fees and costs are made up of:

• a weekly fee of $1.00
• a 0.15 percentage-based fee (for all investment options)
• and an additional amount of 0.04% that is paid from fund assets (not deducted from member accounts).

Here’s an example of the administration fees and costs you could pay if you have an account balance of $50,000:

• a set fee of $52 in a year ($1.00 x 52 weeks)
• plus the percentage-based asset fee on your balance of $75 deducted from your account for administration fees and costs,  (0.15% x $50,000 = $75)
• plus 0.04% paid from fund assets (not deducted from your account). Based on a balance of $50,000 (0.04% x $50,000 = $20).

You can find out more about investment fees and costs in our Fees and costs fact sheet (pdf).

Investment fees and costs are paid to cover the cost of managing your investments. They include amounts paid to our investment service providers directly, to those managing and monitoring the underlying investment assets, and to HESTA's internal investments team and the people, data and systems that support them.

Performance fees are included in investment fees and costs. Typically, they're paid if an investment manager’s returns are above an agreed hurdle (minimum) return, above an agreed benchmark. They may include a negative amount if performance is below the required level in any particular year.

The investment fees and costs are expenses incurred by the fund to invest your super. These costs are paid by the fund to manage investments. The investment fees and costs are not charged to you directly but are deducted from the return on your investment before we calculate unit prices and apply them to your account. So, the returns you see when you log in to your online account or check your statement are after investment fees and costs.

Investment fees and costs will differ between investment options and will depend on how complex it is to manage that particular investment option. For example, our HESTA Super Balanced Growth option investment fees & costs are 0.61% p.a., which includes performance fee of 0.22% p.a. An example of the estimated investment fees and costs based on a $50,000 balance invested in HESTA super Balanced Growth is $305 p.a.  For all other investment options, investment fees & costs range between 0.01% - 0.95% inclusive of performance fees ranging from 0% - 0.45%.  

You can find out more about investment fees and costs in our Fees and costs fact sheet (pdf).

Transaction costs are associated with the buying or selling of investments.

They're deducted from the valuation of investments before daily unit prices are calculated. They may be paid directly by the fund or may reduce the earnings distributed to the Fund, but they're not directly charged to you.

Each investment option incurs transaction costs related to the type and complexity of the assets invested in.

For example, our HESTA Super Balanced Growth option transaction costs are 0.05% per annum. The estimated transaction costs based on a $50,000 balance invested in HESTA Super Balanced Growth is $25 p.a. For all other investment options, the transaction costs range between 0% - 0.09% for other investment options.

You can find out more about investment fees and costs in our Fees and costs fact sheet (pdf).

At its heart, insurance is about providing a safeguard for when things go wrong. The benefit of insurance through super is that we can negotiate a group rate with insurers, so we can pass the savings on to you.

Eligible HESTA super members have access to two units of Death Cover and two units of Income Protection Cover as soon as you become eligible. If that’s not the right fit for you, you can change or cancel your cover at any time.

The fees for insurance vary with age and will also depend on the type of cover you have. You can read more about insurance in the Insurance Options guide (pdf).

The cost of providing most advice to HESTA members about their HESTA super account is included in the administration fees and costs. 

We may also refer you to a third-party provider for comprehensive financial advice on a fee-for-service basis. This cost is agreed with you in advance.  

Depending on the nature of the advice, the fees may be partially or fully deducted from your HESTA account.

As part of our advice service for HESTA members starting a HESTA Income Stream, a $300 advice fee will apply for advice tailored to your personal circumstances.

A $500 fee will apply for advice tailored to you and your spouse's circumstances around starting an Income Stream.

The first meeting with us is at no extra cost to you. The cost of this advice will be deducted from your account(s).