# Understanding fees and costs

## How Fynbos fees work

Fynbos uses a simple, transparent fee structure. Unlike many investment platforms that charge percentage-based fees on your total portfolio (Assets Under Management or AUM fees), Fynbos charges a flat monthly subscription fee.

- **No AUM fees**: We do not charge a percentage of your investments
- **No brokerage markup**: We add nothing to the cost of buying or selling. You pay only the underlying statutory costs — exchange, settlement, and STRATE fees — at 0.08% per transaction
- **No advisor fees**: We do not charge for the investment guidance built into our platform
- **Flat subscription**: One predictable monthly cost, regardless of how much you invest

This approach means the more you invest, the more cost-effective Fynbos becomes compared to percentage-based platforms.

## Subscription plans

Fynbos offers two subscriptions to suit different needs:

| Plan | Monthly cost | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Free** | Free | Emergency Savings, Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) |
| **Protea** | R100/month or R1,000/year | Everything in the free plan, plus Savings pots, Investment accounts, and children's accounts |

Your subscription is billed monthly or annually via card.

## Fund fees (Total Expense Ratios)

While Fynbos does not charge AUM or brokerage fees, the underlying investment funds have their own costs called **Total Expense Ratios (TERs)**. These are industry-standard fees charged by fund managers for managing the investments.

**What is a TER?**

A Total Expense Ratio is the annual cost of running a fund, expressed as a percentage of your investment. It includes the fund manager's fees, administrative costs, and other operational expenses. TERs are automatically deducted from the fund's returns before you see them.

**What this means for you**:

- TERs are built into the fund's performance - you do not pay them separately
- When you see a fund's return, TERs have already been accounted for
- Lower TER funds keep more of your returns

## Comparing fee types

Understanding the different types of fees helps you make informed decisions about where to invest:

| Fee type | Description | How it affects you |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Platform subscription** | Fixed monthly fee charged by the platform | Predictable cost, does not increase with your balance |
| **AUM fee** | Percentage charged on your total investment value | Grows as your portfolio grows, compounds over time |
| **Brokerage fee** | Fee charged when buying or selling investments | Reduces the amount actually invested |
| **TER (fund fee)** | Annual cost of the underlying fund | Built into returns, varies by fund |

The platform subscription is the only fee Fynbos sets. Statutory transaction costs and fund TERs are set by the exchange and the fund managers, and you'd pay them on any platform. Other platforms may add AUM fees, a brokerage markup, or both on top of their subscription.

## Why flat fees matter

A percentage fee grows with your balance. A flat fee doesn't. Over a long horizon that difference compounds, because a percentage fee reduces the principal every year, and the money taken out never earns anything again.

The flat fee is not free, though — it's a real cost that has to come out of the comparison too. Which structure wins depends on your balance:

- **On a small balance**, a low percentage fee can cost less than a flat R100 a month. A 0.5% fee on R100,000 is about R42 a month
- **At the break-even balance**, the two cost the same. Against a flat R100/month, a 0.5% fee breaks even at roughly R240,000
- **Above that**, the flat fee costs less, and the gap widens every year as your balance grows

That is the whole argument for a flat fee: it stops your costs growing just because your investments did.

> **Tip**: Run your own numbers on the [pricing calculator](#CRsVgyBYs). It subtracts the Fynbos subscription from the Fynbos pot before comparing, so it will tell you when a percentage fee is actually the cheaper option for you.

## How fees are charged

**Platform subscription (Protea plan)**:

1. Your subscription is billed monthly on the first of each month
2. Payment is processed via card or debit order
3. If payment fails, you have a grace period before account access is affected
4. You can view all invoices in **Settings** > **Invoices**

**Fund TERs**:

1. TERs are calculated daily based on your fund holdings
2. The cost is automatically deducted from the fund's value
3. You do not see a separate charge - it is reflected in the fund's price
4. TERs are disclosed in each fund's fact sheet

## Viewing your costs

You can track your subscription costs in the Fynbos app:

1. Navigate to **Settings** from the home screen
2. Tap **Subscription** to view your current plan
3. Tap **Invoices** to see your billing history

Each invoice shows the billing date, amount, and payment status.