Tap into your inner investor and take complete control of your investments with our self-managed Member Direct option.
What is Member Direct?
Member Direct offers you greater control and choice in the investment of your super or retirement income. You can invest in shares, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Listed Investment Companies (LICs), term deposits and cash – all from an easy-to-use online platform.
You also get access to real-time trading, extensive market information, independent research and investment tools to help you make informed investment decisions and manage your portfolio. This option suits members who want to be actively involved in managing their investments.
How does it work?
You make your own strategy by investing in your choice of:
- shares in the S&P/ASX 300 Index
- Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
- Listed Investment Companies (LICs)
- term deposits
To invest you will need to open a cash transaction account, which works like an online bank account and earns a competitive interest rate on the cash that is held in the account.
You transfer money from your other AustralianSuper investment options into this account, and then use this money to invest. You can also do the reverse and transfer money from this transaction account back into your other AustralianSuper options.
Features
Control and flexibility
You can tailor your investment strategy by combining the options you choose in shares, ETFs, LICs, term deposits and cash with the investments AustralianSuper make on your behalf in other investment options.
Less paperwork
AustralianSuper takes care of all the administration, compliance and reporting requirements, so you don’t have to.
Lower costs
There aren’t any set-up costs and ongoing fees are low.
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Guides, forms and fact sheets(4)
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Fees
The following fees apply to the AustralianSuper Member Direct option:
- Cash Account fee
- Portfolio Administration Fee (PAF)
- Brokerage (if you trade in Shares, ETFs or LICs)
- You may also incur penalties if you break your Term Deposits before they mature.
OPTION ASSETS YOU CAN INVEST In USING THIS OPTION Cash Account Fee Portfolio Administration fee Cash Account Cash 0.12% of Cash Account balance*
Nil Term Deposits Cash and Term Deposits $150 pa§ Shares, ETFs & LICs Cash and Term Deposits and ASX 300 Shares, EFTs & LICs^ $395 pa§
* Calculated daily and deducted monthly after the gross interest rate is applied to the balance in the Cash Account.
§ Calculated daily and deducted monthly from balance in the Cash Account.
^ Additional fees and costs incurred by the ETF or LIC, including management fees, custody costs and other expenses may be deducted from the returns of the underlying securities in the ETF or LIC. For details please visit the website of the ETF or LIC issuer.Fees shown are GST inclusive. They are calculated daily and automatically deducted from your transaction account on the first business day of each month.
Term Deposit fees
If you (or your beneficiaries) redeem your term deposit(s) prior to their maturity date, penalties will apply. Our effective rate of interest will be reduced in accordance with the following discount factors. Principal reductions and other costs may also apply. See table below.
ME Bank term deposits
Nab term deposits
Time invested
(% of total term)Interest
rate
reducesTime invested
(% of total term)Interest
rate
reduces0 to <20
90%
0 to 50
50% 20 to <40
80%
>50
20% 40 to <60
60%
60 to <80
40%
80 to <100
20%
Brokerage fees
If you choose to trade in shares, ETFs and LICs the following brokerage fees will apply. A flat fee applies to the first $5,000 of your trade. Scaled cumulative brokerage rates apply to each component of your trade value above this, at the levels set out below.
For details on the management fees for the ETFs and/or LICs, please visit the ETF or LIC provider's website - see the investment menu.
Other fees
You will also pay an AustralianSuper administration fee and investment fees for investment options that are managed by AustralianSuper for you (e.g. PreMixed or DIY Mix options). Investment management fees vary depending on the investment option you choose. See the Investment Guide for more details.
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Interest rates for cash account and term deposits
Transaction account
The current interest rate for the Member Direct transaction account is shown below. Please note that this rate is gross of any tax that may be applicable.
Transaction Account as at 25 November 2022 3.75% pa Transaction account interest is accrued daily and credited to members’ accounts monthly, in arrears.
Term deposits
The ranges of interest rates for term deposits currently available within the AustralianSuper Member Direct investment option are shown below. Please note that these rates are gross of any tax that may be applicable.
Interest rates current as at 25 November 2022:Term deposit Interest rate or range (% pa) 90 Days 2.25 to 3.50
180 Days 3.10 to 3.95
365 Days 4.10 to 4.25 Interest on term deposits is accrued daily and credited to members’ accounts at the date of maturity.
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Compare costs and returns
This table shows the average annual total expenses and the average return on assets by SMSF fund size in 2020~.
* Expense ratio includes total expenses and operating expenses.smsfs 2019-20 Average expense ratios and average return on assets by fund size~ Fund Size
average expense ratio*
average total expenses ($)
Average return on assets (%)
$1 - $50,000 17.6% $4,390
-22.0% $50,001 - $100,000 7.9% $6,027 -10.9% $100,001 - $200,000
6.8% $10,447 -5.9% $200 ,001 - $500,000
3.8% $12,854 -1.9% $500,001 - $1 million 1.7% $12,493 -0.9% $1,000,001 - $2million 1.0% $14,518 -0.4% $2,000,001 and higher 0.7% $28,583 0.5% to 3.3%
~ Source: ATO 'Self-managed super funds: a statistical overview 2019-20' -
Seamless Transfer to Choice Income
You can now maintain your Member Direct investments when you move your super balance to a Choice Income account. By requesting a Seamless Transfer to Choice Income you don’t need to sell-down and re-purchase your investments, avoiding transaction costs and market risk. More importantly, by using Seamless Transfer, you do not trigger a tax event or incur brokerage costs.
