The impact of fees
Did you know that over the years, investment fees (MERs) can have a significant impact on the amount of funds available at retirement?
Whether you invest with a pension plan like the CSS Pension Plan or a financial institution, you’ll pay fees to cover the cost of the investment management and operating expenses needed to offer the investment funds.
The combined total of these fees is called a management expense ratio - or MER - and the returns you earn as an investor reflect the performance of the fund after the MER is deducted.
With the CSS Pension Plan’s substantial size, and because we do not have a sales force or distribution costs, we’re able to produce MERs that are a fraction of mutual funds.
Using the Plan’s Balanced Fund and a median balanced mutual fund as examples, the chart below shows the difference the MER can make over the years in the amount of funds available.