Choiceplus Resources & FAQs

You must maintain a minimum balance of $200 in your transaction account at all times.

You can make a transfer request at any time. Cash transfer requests are processed daily for requests received before 4pm AEST two national business days prior.

To transfer cash between your Choiceplus transaction account and your Choiceplus Investment Options:

1. Click on the 'Manage my account' icon on the home page and select 'Transfer cash'
2. Enter the amount you wish to transfer from or to your transaction account and click 'continue'. Please note, you must maintain a minimum balance of $2,000 in Hostplus' other investment options and at least $200 in your transaction account.
3. Review transfer request and click 'confirm'.
4. Your cash transfer will be processed two national business days following (assuming pre 4pm AEST request submission).

Note: that cash transfers into your transaction account will be deducted from your Hostplus investment options in proportion to their estimated current value. Cash transfers out of your transaction account will be credited to your Hostplus investment options in accordance with your nominated future contributions strategy.

The interest you will receive on your transaction account is calculated using the current Reserve Bank of Australia official cash rate. Interest on your transaction account is accrued daily and credited to your account monthly (in arrears and net of any applicable tax).

To view interest payments and rates on your transaction account:

1. Click on the 'Manage my account' icon on the home page and select 'Transaction history'
2. Select transaction account
3. Your interest payments are listed in your transaction history

Features of Choiceplus include:

• Easy to use online investment platform
• Central cash transaction account
• S&P/ASX 300 shares • Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
• Listed Investment Companies (LICs)
• Term deposits
• Real-time online trading
• Live stock quotes and 20-minute delayed market data
• Comprehensive company and market information
• Independent company research and recommendations
• Investment tools including watchlists and charting 
• Investment education
• Consolidated portfolio tax and reporting

You must maintain at least $200 at all times in the transaction account. The platform will automatically manage this minimum from any interest or dividend income you receive or from the proceeds of any share, ETF or LIC transaction. If however your account does fall below $200 we will contact you to top up your account.

If after 30 days from our first attempt to contact you and you have not taken action to top-up your transaction account to at least $200, Hostplus will consider the following:

If you do hold any shares, ETFs, LICs or term deposits Hostplus will;

• Attempt to contact you again and if no further action is taken by you to bring your Choiceplus transaction account balance up to at least $200, Hostplus will take action to bring the transaction account to the minimum balance of $200 on your behalf by 12. 00p.m on the last business day of the following week.

The steps Hostplus will take in order are:

• Transfer $200 from your other Hostplus investment options if the balance in your other investment options is above $2,200. If you have a pension account the amount you must have in your other Hostplus investment options may need to be more than $2,200 to cover pension payments (Income payment reserve)
• If you have less than $2,200 in your other Hostplus investment options or for pension members less than the Income payment reserve then Hostplus will sell $200 shares from your highest market value share, ETF or LIC holdings. You will be responsible for the brokerage fees and any Capital Gains Tax that may be due. This transaction will take place between 2.00-4.00 pm the following business day after the notice has expired and will be placed at market value. Hostplus will not have any regard to the market price of the share, ETF or LIC when this transaction takes place.
• Redeeming term deposits with the earliest maturity date. Penalties will apply (refer to Can I redeem a term deposit before it matures?)

To view or cancel a pending cash transfer request:

1. Click on the 'Manage my account' icon on the home page and select 'Transfer cash'
2. Click on the 'pending' tab
3. Review your pending cash transfer. If you wish to cancel the request click 'cancel'
4. You can make a new cash transfer request at any time.

To view your cash balance available for investing:

• Click on the portfolio drawer button on the home page and select ‘Cash summary’.
• You can invest up to the amount in your ‘available cash’.

You can select from:

• Shares in the S&P/ASX 300 Index (the current list is available on the Choiceplus online platform).
• ETFs – the ETFs offered on Choiceplus have been selected by Hostplus based on recommendations from Lonsec, a specialist investment research house and the leading provider of quality managed fund and ETF research in the Australian market.
• LICs – the LICs offered on Choiceplus have been selected by Hostplus on recommendations of independent ratings agencies
• Term deposits – choose from a selection 90 day, 180 day or 365 day term deposits from ME Bank. The actual term deposit rates are set each week by ME Bank and are available on the Choiceplus platform.

The following restrictions and limits apply to Choiceplus:

You must keep a minimum balance of $2,000 invested in one or more of Hostplus' other investment options and $200 in your Choiceplus transaction account.

Provided you meet these two conditions you can invest:

• as much of your remaining Hostplus account balance in term deposits up to a maximum of $5 million in a single deposit
• up to 80% of your remaining Hostplus balance in S&P/ASX 300 stocks and exchange traded funds
• a maximum of 20% of your total super or pension balance in a single stock, exchange traded fund, or listed investment company
• the minimum buy order you can place for stocks and exchange traded funds is $1,500
• the minimum amount you can invest in term deposits is $1,000
• buying and selling a share on the same day is not permitted

Please note: If your holding reaches above 20% for a single equity or 80% of you total balance, you will not be required to liquidate any position to keep within these rules. You may not be able to purchase other shares or exchange traded funds until your account reaches a level below 80% of the total fund value.

• Transaction account - Your transaction account is an interest bearing investment. Tax is payable on interest income on an accruals basis (i.e. daily as interest is earned). Like Hostplus' other investment options, the interest credited to your transaction account balance will be net of any applicable tax, meaning that an allowance for tax has already been made (if applicable).
• Term deposits - Term deposits Term deposits are also interest bearing investments. Tax is payable on term deposit interest upon receipt and will be withheld when the interest income is paid into the transaction account.
• Shares, ETFs and LICs - Tax is payable on dividend income upon receipt and will be withheld when the dividend is paid into the transaction account. - In the case of Dividend Reinvestment Plans, tax will be withheld (deducted from your transaction account) when any applicable shares are allotted to your portfolio.
• Trust distributions - Some securities included in the S&P/ASX 300 Index are trusts and pay trust distributions rather than dividends like shares. Tax is payable on trust distributions on a present entitlement basis. Tax will be withheld upon receipt of the distribution. Where estimated trust components are received, tax will be applied to the taxable components. Where no estimates are provided, tax will be applied to the total distribution received. When final distribution trust components are received, a true-up calculation will be performed (refer below).

• Capital gains tax - Capital gains (or losses) refer to the difference in the value of an asset when you buy and sell it. As a guide, your capital gains tax (CGT) is determined by adding the total of all your capital gains for the year, then deducting your total capital losses including any net realised capital losses carried forward from previous years.
  
  - The tax rate on income in a superannuation fund is 15%, therefore capital gains on investments within superannuation (e.g. direct shares, ETFs and LICs) are taxed at 15% for those assets held for 365 days or less. There is a discount on CGT for assets held for over 365 days of 1/3rd so that any gains will be taxed at 10%. Pension accounts pay income tax at 0% therefore capital gains are not taxable.
  
  - Choiceplus will calculate the net CGT liability daily using a year to date position. This will accrue within your portfolio valuation. A physical deduction or refund for CGT will be made each quarter and will occur within seven days of the following dates: - September 30 - December 31 - March 31 - June 30
  
  - The quarterly CGT provision will take into account any gains or losses since the previous period and recalculate the financial year to date CGT asset/liability. This may result in a credit or debit to your transaction account. Choiceplus will also calculate any unrealised CGT liability / benefit daily to include within your portfolio valuation. This calculation will include any unutilised realised capital losses.
• True-up tax calculation - A calculation of your final tax liability will be calculated, and any adjustments made, effective 31 December for the previous tax year. This allows adequate time for any trust distribution information to be received from the issuers that might otherwise have been unavailable at the time the distribution was received. When your super is in the pension phase, tax on earnings does not apply.

The Choiceplus investment option can carry capital losses forward, which may provide you with tax benefits. A capital loss occurs when an asset loses value in between buying and selling it. Although capital gains must be realised and taxed each year, capital losses can be carried forward, to be offset against future gains. Choiceplus allows you to carry forward any realised capital losses in relation to the sale of shares, ETFs or LICs to offset against future gains and includes these in the calculation of the current year’s net capital gain (or loss) calculations.

Stocks can provide tax benefits to shareholders in the form of franking credits (also known as imputation credits). Franking credits are attached to dividends and apply to the amount of tax a company has paid on it profits. Australian companies pay tax at a rate of 30%, which is the maximum franking credit investors can receive.

Superannuation funds pay a maximum tax rate of 15% on any investment income received. Any dividends that have been taxed at a rate higher than 15% return an associated franking credit to you.

The franking credit is equivalent to the difference between the superannuation fund tax rate and the tax rate paid by the company. Franking credits are credited back to your account and can help to improve net investment returns.

Pension accounts are not subject to tax.
Any franking credits will be added to your Transaction account or reinvested if you have selected that option.

Switching between the other Hostplus investment options (excluding the Choiceplus Option)

1. Click on the 'Manage my account' icon on the home page and select 'Manage my investments' option

For Superannuation Members:

You will see two columns; the first will be for your Superannuation Balance. This is where you change existing balance into your new investment option. The second will be for your future contributions.  This is where any funds coming into Hostplus will be invested i.e. Employer contributions, Salary sacrifice, Rollins etc. This excludes dividends.

For Pension Members:

The first column will be to change your current investment option. The second column will not be active unless you have previously selected a percentage based or priority based drawdown. You are able to change your drawdown option by selecting the drop down menu next to ‘Change your drawdown strategy to’

2. Enter the percentage of your portfolio you want to allocate to each investment option and click 'continue'

3. A review screen will appear advising you what will happen next. Click 'continue' if you are sure you want to close your account. If you are not sure click 'cancel' Investment switches are processed weekly.

Requests received before 4.00pm AEST on a National Business Day will be effective two national business days following.

To view or cancel a pending investment switch request:

1. Click on the 'Manage my account' icon on the home page and select 'Manage my investments' option
2. Click on the 'pending tab'
3. Review your pending investment switch. If you wish to cancel the request click 'cancel'
4. You can make a new investment switch request at any time Switching between your other investment options and Choiceplus.

You use the cash transfer feature to transfer money from your other Hostplus investment options into your Choiceplus transaction account. You can then use this money to invest in shares, ETFs, LICs or term deposits.

The Choiceplus investment option allows you to participate in a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRP) when offered by the issuing company and have your dividends automatically reinvested to buy more shares. Alternatively, you can have your dividends paid into your Transaction Account as cash. A default DRP preference can be applied to your account, or you can nominate by individual investment.

When you registered for Choiceplus, your default DRP preference was set to cash. You can change your DRP preference through the 'Settings' icon on the home page then selecting 'My details', however when a dividend is declared, we will use your DRP nomination preference as at 11.59pm AEST/AEDT the day prior to ex-date.

Please be aware that not all companies offer dividend reinvestment. If you choose dividend reinvestment and this is not offered, the dividend will be paid as cash into your transaction account.

The ’Alerts’ icon on the homepage notifies you of corporate actions and other items that require your attention. For example, you may receive an alert if your transaction account falls below the minimum balance or a company you have shares in is participating in a merger or acquisition. From time to time, Hostplus may also post an alert regarding any product changes or information that you need to be aware of.

The following fees apply to the Choiceplus:

• Portfolio administration fee Choiceplus has a portfolio administration fee of $15 per month ($180 per annum).
  
  The portfolio administration fee is automatically deducted from your transaction account on the first of each month. Your portfolio administration fee provides access to the Choiceplus online platform and includes 20-minute delayed ASX pricing, live stock quotes and Thomson Reuters news, company and market data.
• Brokerage for shares ETFs and LICs. Scaled fees apply based on the transaction amount

^{*The above rates exclude GST}

Click on the ’Settings’ icon on the home page and select ’My details’ from the menu. You can change your email address. You cannot change your username or member number.

Before you close your Choiceplus account, you will need to sell any shares you currently hold. If you hold any term deposits, you will need to wait until the end of their term before you can close your account unless you meet one of our early redemption conditions.

To close your account:

• Click on the ‘Settings’ icon on the home page and select ‘Close my account’ from the menu.
• Click yes if you want to close your account.
• If you hold any current investments you will be prompted to sell them before proceeding.
• A review screen will appear advising you what will happen next.
• Click on continue if you are sure you want to close your account.
• If you are not sure click 'cancel'.
• After you close your account you can register for Choiceplus again at any time.

You cannot direct future contributions into Choiceplus. You can make a transfer request at any time. Cash transfer requests are processed daily for requests received before 4pm AEST two national business days prior.

There are no fees when you place a term deposit order.

Term deposits available through Choiceplus are not covered by the Government guarantee (Financial Claims Scheme) as they are not held on separate trust for each individual member. The Financial Claims Scheme only applies to super fund members if the trustee holds bank deposits with an approved authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) on separate trust, which it treats as different 'account-holders'. Hostplus pools together all members' term deposit investments each week to invest with each term deposit issuer to minimise the costs to members.

Choiceplus allows you to specify reinvestment preferences on a term deposit at the time you place the initial order, or at any time during the term up to 2 days before the day of maturity through the portfolio drawer or your account channel.

The reinvestment options available are:

Reinvest the principal only, or the principal + net interest

Purchase a term based on same term and same provider as the maturing term deposit, or same term and best rate

Reinvest only once, or reinvest using these preferences until cancelled

On the day of maturity, the principal plus net interest will be deposited into your transaction account and a new order will be created based on your reinvestment preferences.

You must be a Hostplus member with $10,000 or more in your account to be eligible to invest in Choiceplus. Once registered, you must keep at least $2,000 invested in one or more of our other investment options.

You can invest as much of your account balance as you like, provided you keep at least $2,000 invested in your other Hostplus investments. If you are a pension member you must keep sufficient funds in your other Hostplus investment options to allow for your annual pension payments. This may be more than $2,000 depending on the minimum annual pension payment that Hostplus must pay you throughout the year.

The Income Payment Reserve (IPR) is the amount you must retain in non Choiceplus investments, allowing Hostplus to pay you at least the minimum annual pension required by legislation. The IPR is reset each year when the new minimum pension amount is calculated for your pension plan.

Funds in your transaction account are invested in a Hostplus cash account with ME Bank. ME Bank is a 100% Australian owned, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) regulated bank. 

Choiceplus offers many of the key advantages of a self-managed super fund (SMSF), but at a fraction of the cost. And you continue to be invested in an APRA regulated super fund with all the prudential protections that it provides – unlike a SMSF which does not provide the same protections.

• Control and flexibility: it enables you to tailor your investment strategy by selecting your own investments from S&P/ASX 300 Index shares, ETFs, LICs and term deposits. You can combine these investments with one or more of our other investment options to achieve the investment strategy you are working towards achieving. However, unlike SMSFs, Choiceplus does not allow investment in direct property or other assets, such as collectibles and the like.
• Less paperwork: usually SMSF members must also become trustees of their fund. The trustees are responsible for meeting the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) regulations and requirements, which can be quite complex, time-consuming and onerous. With Choiceplus, Hostplus as the trustee takes care of all the administration, compliance and reporting requirements so you don’t have to.

When you register for Choiceplus, a transaction account is automatically created for you. Your transaction account is like an online bank account, but you can use the funds to invest in shares, ETFs, LICs and term deposits. You can also use the transaction account to transfer money into and out of your other Hostplus investment options.

You need a Choiceplus transaction account as:

• All transactions are conducted from your transaction account so you need it to buy and sell shares, ETFs, LICs and term deposits
• Deposits to your transaction account are cash transfers from your other Hostplus investment options, as well as your Choiceplus investment income, such as dividends, interest proceeds, share, ETF and LIC sales
• Deductions from your transaction account are cash transfers to your other Hostplus investment options, fees and tax payments in relation to your Choiceplus investments and investment purchases.

The ETF will generally hold similar securities and weightings to the index, so it can closely replicate its performance. Market participants tend to ensure ETFs trade at prices that are closely aligned to the net asset value of the underlying securities in the portfolio. Similar to share trading, ETFs can be bought and sold at any time during the trading day through Choiceplus.

The ETFs offered on Choiceplus have been selected by Hostplus based on recommendations from Lonsec Research Pty Ltd, a specialist investment research house and the leading provider of quality managed fund and ETF research in the Australian market.

While investing in Choiceplus, the following restrictions and limits apply:

• you need a minimum balance of $10,000 in your Hostplus account before being eligible to register to invest in Choiceplus
• need to keep at least $2,000 invested in your other Hostplus investment options at all times or if a pension member the payment pension reserve specific to your pension, whichever is the greater
• you need to maintain $200 in your Choiceplus transaction account
• you need to make an initial Choiceplus investment of $200 minimum
• you can invest up to 80% of your total super balance in shares, ETFs and LICs
• a maximum of 20% of your total super balance in a single share, ETF or LIC
• the minimum amount you can invest in term deposits is $1,000
• the maximum amount you can invest in a single term deposit is $5 million
• the minimum buy order you can place for shares, ETFs and LICs is $1,500 and the maximum is $250,000
• you can’t buy and sell the same share, ETF or LIC on the same day
• stop losses and stop gains are not available

All investment decisions are made by Choiceplus investors. Hostplus recommends you seek independent financial advice in respect of Choiceplus investments. Hostplus retains all exclusions of liability and rights of indemnity.

You cannot nominate cash to be allocated to your Choiceplus account from contributions. You must submit a cash transfer request to move money from your other investment options into Choiceplus.

LICs are listed managed investments. They enable an investor to invest in a diverse and professionally managed portfolio of assets which can include shares, property and interest bearing deposits.

LICs are bought and sold on the market just like an ordinary share and as an investor you can decide whether the investment style and underlying investment portfolio of a particular LIC suits your own investment needs and objectives.

To invest in Listed Invested Companies (LICs):

1. 1. Click on the 'Manage my account' icon on the home page and select 'Trade listed investments'
2. Click on the 'buy and sell' tab
3. Enter the LIC order code in the 'code' field and select 'buy' - you can search for LICs by name if you're not sure of the code
4. Your available cash and maximum amount of units you can buy will appear in the 'available cash' table
5. select whether you want to invest by 'value' or 'quantity' next to 'trade type'
6. Enter the 'number' or 'value' of units you want to buy
7. Select whether you want to buy the LIC at the current 'market price' or set a maximum 'limit price'. Please note, any at limit orders still open at the end of the trading day will be cancelled after market close in line with ASX trading rules.
8. The latest stock prices and trade information for your selected LIC will appear in the right hand table. To check the latest price click the 'get live quote' button (prices are delayed by about 20 minutes)
9. If you selected 'limit price' specify the maximum price you want to pay
10. Choose 'good for the day' next to 'expiration'. Under ASX trading rules, any LIC orders still open at the end of the day will be cancelled after market close.
11. Your estimated trade value, brokerage and total order will appear in the 'total' table
12. Click 'continue'
13. Check your order details are correct and click 'confirm' to place your trade. You can also track, buy and sell LICs from your watchlist.

Yes, you can cancel or change trades that have not been fully executed.

To cancel a Listed Investment Company (LIC) trade:

1. Click on the 'Manage my account' icon on the home page and select ‘Trade listed investments'.
2. Click on the ‘open orders’ tab.
3. You can search for the order you want to cancel by a range of filter options: ‘Order status’ – searches for open, partial or cancelled orders. ‘Instrument’ type – searches by the stock or ETF code. ‘Order type’ – searches all ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ orders. ‘Date from’ and ‘to’ – searches by date range.  
4. Your search results will now be displayed
5. Select the relevant ‘security name’ (the’ % complete’ field will show you how much of your trade has been executed). You can only cancel the percentage of your trade that hasn’t been executed.
6. Select ‘cancel’.
7. You will receive a message confirming if your cancellation has been successful.

To change a trade:

1. Follow steps 1 to 5 for ‘cancelling a trade’.
2. Select ‘amend’.
3. Change your order details.
4. Click ‘continue’.
5. Check your order details are correct and click ‘confirm’ to place your trade.

To sell exchange traded fund (LIC) units:

Click on the 'Manage my account' icon on the home page and select ‘Trade listed investments' option.

1. Click on the ‘buy and sell’ tab.
2. Enter the LIC order code in the ‘code’ field and select ‘sell’ – you can search for LICs by name if you’re not sure of its code.
3. The amount of units you have available to sell will appear.
4. Elect whether you want to sell by ‘value’ or ‘quantity’ next to ‘trade type’.
5. Enter the ‘number’ or ‘value’ of units you want to sell – you can sell all or part of your holding.
6. Select whether you want to sell the LIC at the current ‘market price’ or set a ‘limit price’. The latest stock prices and trade information for your selected LIC will appear in the right hand table. To check the latest price click the ‘get live quote’ button (prices are delayed by about 15 minutes).
7. Choose how long you want the trade to remain valid next to ‘expiration’.
8. Your estimated trade value, brokerage and total order will appear in the ‘total’ table.
9. Click ‘continue’.
10. Check your order details are correct and click ‘confirm’ to place your trade.

You can also track, buy and sell LICs from your watchlist.

Please note you cannot buy and sell the same security on the same day.