As a pioneer in the industry, we are the first to give 100% Cashback on trailer fees that we receive from fund managers to our clients.
Trailer fees are a form of commission paid by fund managers to distributors (i.e. your broker/financial advisor). This commission is paid continuously, so long as the client holds the funds, and usually ranges between 15%-50% of the annual fund fees, which could be as much as 1% per annum. This leads to higher fund fees, and leads to a potential misalignment of incentives between an investor and distributor.
Endowus clients get 100% of these trailer fees back as Cashback. This is so that we, as your financial advisor, are always aligned to your best interests, and continuously work to improve your investment outcomes and lower your costs. When available, Endowus also saves you money by accessing institutional share classes of funds that are lower cost and have no trailer fees embedded.
When will I receive Cashback?
Cashback on your Endowus investments is typically distributed every quarter. In some circumstances, it may take up to 6 months to be credited.
For your cash investments with Endowus, Cashback will be credited directly to your Endowus Cash Balance.
How do we calculate Cashback?
As each fund manager has a different methodology to determine the trailer fees payable, Endowus adopts a standard method of calculating the trailer fees we rebate to clients. We also periodically review and refine our methodology where necessary.
Currently, on a quarterly basis, we tabulate and apportion trailer fees based on the holdings each client has with us. Every quarter:
- We group clients who invest in the same share class of a fund (which pays trailer fees). Each client may fall within one or more groups, depending on the client’s investment.
- Next, we calculate the total amount of estimated trailer fees that we expect to receive from the fund manager for each group. We do this by tracking the daily market value of the relevant fund share class and applying the daily rebate percentage we expect to receive accordingly.
- We then determine the proportion of the total amount of trailer fees that each client should receive. We do so by aggregating the daily market value of the fund share class held by each client for that quarter, and then dividing that by the total daily market value of the fund share class of our clients in the relevant group.
- Where necessary, the trailer fee will be converted to the relevant fund currency before distribution to our clients. Endowus does not take a spread on the currency conversion.
On occasion, our estimated trailer fees may not add up to the actual trailer fees received from fund managers. This may be due to differences in the trailer fee calculation methodology certain fund managers use, exchange rates, or taxes payable. In these cases, we try to reconcile the numbers before distributing the trailer fees based on our methodology. We always rebate 100% of the trailer fees we sight.
Please note that this is subject to our terms and conditions. For example, we may not distribute trailer fees to clients who have already closed their accounts with us. Such trailer fees are instead re-distributed to other active clients.