NORTH Super & Pension Platform (and other Platforms) have recently sent out a communication about some increased Transaction Costs, which have raised enquiries from some clients.
Some of the Investment Companies / Fund Managers in the marketplace have introduced slightly increased costs to make it less attractive for clients to panic sell out of their Investments back to cash (which only crystallises a loss). It can also be where a purchaser is speculating to invest (Buy) into an Investment (and might even subsequently sell also). Therefore, the idea is that this variation in the “Buy / Sell spread” is designed to protect the existing investors (you) from others either selling out or buying in. Therefore, the changes to Transaction Costs does not affect you unless investment assets are being sold (or bought).
Most importantly, this is not a NORTH imposed cost….it is just some of the Investment Companies / Fund Managers who have done this….but NORTH is just communicating this to you because you don’t deal directly with the different Investment Companies / Fund Managers that are on the NORTH Platform. For clients on other Platforms (Asgard, OnePath, MLC or other) you will likely have received a similar communication for the same reason.
So we just wanted to clarify this for you, that this isn’t a sudden increase in management costs.
And where we do recommend any changes or adjustments that we should make to the investments within your Portfolio, we always analyse the costs and outline this to you in your Planning & Strategy (Review) Report.