Legalsuper announces low-fee index option

The industry super fund legalsuper has added a low-fee index investment option to help it prepare for the MySuper environment.

Legalsuper chief executive Andrew Proebstl said the new option would provide the fund with "valuable insights" into the potential structure of its MySuper product.

The fund will be observing movements into and out of the new investment option, and will also be seeking feedback from members, Proebstl said.

The low-fee option has been designed in conjunction with State Street and legalsuper's administrator AAS. It has a management fee of 0.12 per cent, and members with a $50,000 balance will pay a total fee of $262.60 or 0.53 per cent (ie, including investment and administration fees).

Proebstl said the creation of the new option was proof that specialised funds like legalsuper could leverage off companies like State Street to provide members with the benefits of scale.

Along with the introduction of a low-fee option, Legalsuper has announced it is increasing the investible universe of its S&P/ASX200 direct shares option to the companies in the S&P/ASX300 index.

The fund also enhanced its insurance offering in November, giving members the option to increase their death and total and permanent disability cover by two units. The fund has also reduced its premium rates for fixed cover insurance, and given members the option to increase their insurance cover when they experience significant life events.