ING latest to cut fees
ING has become the latest group to respond to what appears to be a growing price squeeze in the platform market, revealing that it has reduced fees and added more investment options to its retail master trust, OneAnswer.
The move follows recent reductions in fee levels by other investment groups, such as Colonial and AMP.
ING announced last week that it has reduced ongoing fees on OneAnswer from between five and 35 basis points. The cuts relate to investment options on the master trust managed by external fund managers, some conservative funds, the ING Cash Fund and some of the Dutch group’s OptiMix funds.
The group has also added its term allocated pension offering to the platform and re-opened the ING Emerging Companies Fund to OneAnswer investors. Three new investment options have also been added to the platform — the Barclays Global Investors Australian Shares Fund, BT Smaller Companies Fund and IOOF/Perennial Value Shares Fund.
According to ING executive director Ross Bowden, the latest enhancements to OneAnswer are part of the group’s overhaul of its platform strategy, including upgrades to its other two platforms — Optimix and PortfolioOne.
As of September 20, Bowden says ongoing fees for its investment portfolio option within OneAnswer, which has $8.3 billion in funds under administration, will average 1.91 per cent compared to the 2.02 per cent previously.
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