Calculating interest on your account

Interest is credited to your account:

• At 30 June and 31 December each year (a statement is sent to you at this time)
• When you withdraw or transfer out of the Fund
• When you switch between investment options or buy/sell in the ASX 200 Shares Investment Option.

The crediting rates are compounded daily. This is important to note as it is likely that you will have a different balance on your account every day. This is because every transaction on your account (including insurance premiums and administration fees which are deducted monthly, and contributions that may occur at any time) creates a new daily balance on which crediting rates are calculated. 

* Interest may be a negative amount if the crediting rate is negative.

Calculating interest on investment switches

If you make an investment switch, the daily crediting rates are used to calculate the switch amount (e.g. if you requested 50% of your account balance to move to a different investment option, the balance will include interest, which may be a positive or negative amount).

The interest calculated is based on the actual daily crediting rates. These rates are calculated on a daily compounding basis to establish the exact interest amount that is applied to your account. The rates are published on the following Wednesday after the switch which is effective on a Tuesday.

Example

1. A switch request is made on Thursday 14 February 2008 to switch from 100% Balanced to 50% Balanced and 50% High Growth Investment Option.
2. The switch will be effective from Tuesday 19 February 2008.
3. The member's account balance will be determined at the close of business Monday 18 February 2008 using the daily crediting rates for the Balanced Investment Option.
4. The switch will show on your online account from Wednesday 20 February 2008.

The amount allocated to your account is the actual investment return during the period that your money was invested in the investment. Investment fees, expenses and providing for provisions such as tax are deducted prior to the crediting rate being declared.

Calculating interest on ASX trades

If you have invested in the ASX 200 Shares Investment Option and you make an ASX trade online before midnight Sunday (or 1pm Friday, if submitted on paper) the trade will be processed the next Monday trading day and settled two days later. The current published daily crediting rates are used when you submit your trade to establish an account balance in order to apply the eligibility rules for ASX trades.

When the trade is settled, the rates declared on this day are used to calculate interest to your account based on the number of days that you were invested in each investment option and excludes any amount in ASX holdings.

If instructions for both a switch (PreMixed or DIY) and an ASX 200 trade are received in the same week, in the event of a public holiday or where specific shares or stock exchanges are suspended from trading, delays may occur to implementing both the switch and the trade instructions.

Calculating interest on full withdrawal or rollovers

If you make a full withdrawal or rollover from your account, the last available crediting rates are used together with zero rates for the day of calculation and the preceding day to establish the final account balance.

Calculating interest on partial cash withdrawals

If you make a partial withdrawal, the amount is simply deducted from your account. Interest is calculated on your account using the actual daily crediting rates.

Contributions and roll-ins.

If contributions and transfers from other funds ('roll-ins') are credited to your account, you will receive interest using the daily crediting rates from the date of receipt.

Dividends and franking credits

Dividends and franking credits earned will be credited to your account upon receipt. These will be reported on your member statement at the end of June and December each year. You can also view dividends and franking credits online in your account under the ASX transaction history.  

Calculating capital gains tax (CGT)

If you sell shares through the ASX 200 Shares Investment Option (in whole or part), CGT will be calculated on each of your transactions at the time of selling. This could result in a debit or credit to your account. In the case of a capital gain on shares that have been held for less than 12 months the gain will be taxed at 15%.

Example:
Capital gain: $20
Tax at 15%: ($3)
Post-tax: $17

Any capital gain resulting from the sale of shares held for more than 12 months will be taxed at a rate of 10%. While the tax rate of the Fund is actually 15%, AustralianSuper passes on a 33.33% Capital Gains Tax discount which effectively gives you an overall tax rate of 10%. 

Example:
Capital gain: $20
Capital gains discount: $6.66
Discounted capital gain: $13.34
Tax at 15%: ($2)
Post-tax: $18

Sales of shares that result in a capital loss will attract a tax credit of 10% irrespective of the length of time they have been held.