Recently, Fundsupermart (FSM), a popular platform used by many retail DIY investors to buy unit trusts, announced that they would be charging their users a platform fee with effect from May 2010. The charges will apply to investments made using cash or SRS. Increasing operating costs has been cited as one of the reasons for imposing the fee.

Under the new pricing structure, investors would expect to pay an additional 0.5% p.a. for equity funds and 0.2% p.a. for bond funds. To make up for the platform fees, upfront sales charges would be reduced. In addition, there will be a short promotion of 0.75% sales charge from 1st to 22nd April 2010.

The complete new pricing structure can be found here:

Changes to FSM’s Pricing Structure

The suddenness of the news surprised many of FSM’s users and as expected, a number of them are unhappy about the new charges being forced on them. Read more…