ASIC today released updated guidance on fee and cost disclosure for trustees of superannuation funds and responsible entities of managed funds and other managed investment schemes.

Regulatory Guide 97 Disclosing fees and costs in PDSs and periodic statements has been updated and amendments made to Class Order [CO 14/1252] (refer: MR 14-334), which made clarifications to the requirements for disclosing fees and costs in the Corporations Regulations 2001.

The revised guidance and law amendments follow ASIC'S review of fee and cost disclosure practices in Report 398 Fee and cost disclosure: Superannuation and managed investment products (REP 398) (refer: MR 14-158). In this report inconsistencies were identified in industry practice as well as under-disclosure of fees and costs.

These measures will assist trustees and responsible entities in ensuring that the fees and costs disclosed to investors are accurate and that fees and costs are disclosed more consistently across the industry. 

ASIC Commissioner Greg Tanzer said 'Accurate and consistent fees and costs disclosure is extremely important for consumers when making decisions about their superannuation and managed investments.'

'The work ASIC has completed in this area will help improve the quality of disclosure to consumers, which will strengthen their confidence in superannuation and managed investments.' 

'Today's release followed extensive industry consultation. We thank industry for its assistance and participation in the consultative process.  We will continue our engagement with industry during the transition period for the new guidance and amended regulatory requirements to assist industry in its the implementation of these measures.'

In addition to revising guidance and clarifying the regulatory requirements, Report 398 identified the need for industry standards or guidelines that complement our guidance which can also help in improving quality of disclosure. Commissioner Tanzer added, ASIC will continue to encourage industry to come together and agree on standards that complement ASIC guidance. An example of where industry standards that may further assist in improving quality of disclosure is in respect of particular product types, such as platforms and private equity products.

The amendments include an extension of the transition period for the application of the new requirements. The class order will now apply to all PDS for superannuation and managed investment products from 1 February 2017. It will also apply to periodic statements that must be given for these products by 1 January 2018 or later.

ASIC also intends to further defer the start date for the consistency requirements in s29QC of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 until 1 February 2017 to align with the extension to the fee and cost transition for PDSs.

Download

• ASIC Corporations (Amendment and Repeal) Instrument 2015/876 which amended [CO 14/1252]
• Regulatory Guide 97 Disclosing fees and costs in PDSs and periodic statements (RG 97)
• Report 457 Response to Submissions Disclosing fees and costs in PDSs and periodic statements (REP 457)