HOSTPLUS Member Guide

After taxes and investment expenses are taken out of investment returns, we reinvest all monies for the benefit of our members. We also don’t pay commissions to financial advisers or dividends to shareholders. So more money stays in your account.

HOSTPLUS members pay a low member fee of $1.50 per week which has remained unchanged since 2004, another great reason to join us. Like most super funds, investment expenses also apply. However, we strive to ensure the expense incurred in managing each investment option is among the most competitive available in Australia for that type of investment.

We aim to achieve competitive, long-term investment performance for members. Our Balanced (default) option investment performance has outperformed the Median Balanced Option over the longer term, that is the past 5, 7 and 10 years according to the SuperRatings Fund Crediting Rate Survey (8 August 2011) as at 30 June 2011.

Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Right now, your most valuable assets are your health, family and your income earning potential. Protecting these assets is an important part of a smart financial plan.

So HOSTPLUS gives you access to three key types of insurance cover:

• Death and Total & Permanent Disability insurance cover
• Death Only insurance cover, and
• Salary Continuance (also known as income protection) insurance cover.
• Terminal Illness cover is included as part of any Death cover.

If you are eligible, you will receive automatic insurance cover when you join HOSTPLUS. Members aged between 25 and 64 automatically receive two units of Death and Total & Permanent Disability (TPD) insurance cover at $3 per week.

Members under 25 years receive one unit of Death and TPD insurance cover at $1.50 per week. Any death insurance includes Terminal Illness cover.

Eligible HOSTPLUS Personal Super Plan members receive automatic Death and TPD fixed benefit insurance of $100,000. 

You can apply for different types of insurance or higher levels of insurance using the Increase your insurance cover application available at www.hostplus.com.au/forms – or, once your membership has commenced, apply online through your SuperSite account at www.hostplus.com.au Interim insurance arrangements apply while the insurer is assessing your insurance application.

HOSTPLUS gives you a choice of 19 investment options, offering a wide range of investment strategies to suit your investment time frame, long-term goals and risk profile – from growth asset classes, like shares and property, to defensive asset classes, like fixed interest and cash.

To choose how your super is invested, make your investment choice online through your SuperSite account at www.hostplus.com.au or complete the Investment choice form available at www.hostplus.com.au/forms and forward it to us. 

You can always change your investment choice free of charge.

If you prefer not to choose at all, we’ll invest your contributions in the HOSTPLUS Balanced option – the default investment option.

Find out more about investments and investment options at www.hostplus.com.au/investments

You can check and manage your account online via SuperSite at www.hostplus.com.au 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

Naturally, your account is protected by its own Personal Identification Number (PIN), and member number, which you’ll receive with your welcome letter. 

Use it to:

Review your account balance, investments and insurance online

• Get an estimate of your account balance, and review your transactions for the previous two reporting periods.
• See how your investment has progressed over the years and in which investment options you have invested your super.
• You can also apply to increase or change your insurance cover.

Make an investment choice online

• Change how your existing balance and future contributions are invested.

Top-up your super

• Make additional contributions to your HOSTPLUS account, quickly and easily, by Bpay®.

Update your personal details

• Advise us of changes to your personal details, including a change of address or beneficiary, or notification of your Tax File Number.

Good advice now can make a lifetime of difference later. Because we care about your financial future, we encourage you to seek expert financial advice about super.

That’s why HOSTPLUS members can access high quality, low cost financial advice from Industry Fund Financial Planning, a division of Industry Fund Services Pty Ltd ABN 54 007 016 195, AFSL 232514.

All Industry Fund Financial Planning advisers are fully qualified and are authorised representatives of Industry Fund Services Pty Ltd under its Australian financial services licence.

But, unlike many advisers, they are not paid by commission. This leaves them free to recommend strategies that are most appropriate for you.

FREE fact-finding consultation

When you join HOSTPLUS, you’re entitled to a free fact-finding consultation with Industry Fund Financial Planning.

It’s courtesy of HOSTPLUS and there is no obligation. It’s simply one way we can help you along the road to a super retirement.

No financial advice is given, but it will help you decide if you need to go further.

Commission-free, expert, easy-to-understand advice

In addition, you can also receive comprehensive advice, in plain English, about a range of financial issues including:

•     budgeting – so you can take control of your money
•     investment options – so you can maximise your money
•     insurance – so you’re properly protected
•     tax – so you get back what you’re entitled to
•     super – so you can enjoy a comfortable retirement.

Importantly, a financial adviser can help develop a financial plan tailored to your current lifestyle and future financial goals. And naturally, they can help you review and refine your plan down the track, so it keeps pace with the changes in your life.

There are no hidden costs for these services. Instead, Industry Fund Financial Planning charges a simple flat fee for most services, as shown in the table below. 

If the service attracts a time-based fee, your Industry Fund Financial Planning licensed adviser will make a free assessment of your requirements and provide a fixed no-obligation quote upfront.

* Fees include GST and are current at 31 October 2011.

These fees are only deducted when you seek advice and provide approval of the deduction on an ‘as needed’ basis. Fees may be subject to change and, if so, you will be advised when you seek financial planning advice.

If you wish to take advantage of Industry Fund Financial Planning, as a HOSTPLUS member you can pay Industry Fund Financial Planning fees directly from your superannuation account, for superannuation related financial advice and plans only (as opposed to full financial plans), as long as your account balance is $2,000 or more after the fee is deducted.

To reserve your free fact-finding consultation or arrange a meeting with an Industry Fund Financial Planning licensed adviser, simply call 1300 HOSTPLUS (1300 467 875).