"Shelf fees" are the fees that fund managers pay wraps, master trusts and fund supermarkets for the opportunity to be included on their lists. As the number of funds grow, so does the competition for these funds to get clients in the door. Shelf fees are not illegal, but if the fund manager pay these fees it makes the costs of running their products more expensive and who do you think ends up paying this? The Investor!
The joint parliamentary committee on corporations and financial services has delivered a 266-page report arguing against the removal of commissions on super products but calling for greater transparency and the removal of shelf fees.
An article in the Financial Standard - Yes to commissions, no to shelf fees (8 August 2007)
...the committee took a much stronger line against shelf fees for investment menus, saying they could be “anti-competitive and may encourage products to be listed and subsequently recommended that may not be in the best interests of the client.”
So it will be interesting to see if this practice slows down, or if its just more storms in more tea cups!

