An empty fee column does not mean a free investment. It usually means the costs are reported somewhere you have not looked yet.
Statements do not all put costs in the same place. Start with any section labelled fees, charges, transactions, cash flows, cost disclosure or effective annual cost. Then set the statement alongside the latest proposal, the service agreement and the fund fact sheets, because no single document holds the whole picture.
The distinction that matters most is between deductions you can see and costs already reflected in investment prices. Advice and platform fees often appear as transactions, or as units sold. Fund expenses are usually built into the fund's reported value, so nothing visibly leaves. Performance fees and transaction costs may only be described in supporting documents rather than as a tidy monthly line.
Then check the dates. A quarterly statement, an annual cost disclosure and a current fee schedule can each cover a different period. And a percentage rate is still not the same thing as the rand actually charged.
Try this now
Pick a twelve-month period and record every visible fee transaction from one statement. Add the product's cost disclosure and the underlying fund costs for the closest matching period. Note any figure you cannot yet reconcile, and treat that list as your agenda.
Ask your advisor
- Which costs are deducted visibly and which are already reflected in unit prices?
- Can you reconcile the disclosed annual percentage with the rand charged?
- Have any rates, share classes or service fees changed during the period?
Do not assume a blank transaction list means the investment is free. It may mean some costs are reported differently.