Spaceship Voyager Fee Change Again

ATangk on 23/01/2023 - 17:31
Last edited 23/01/2023 - 20:03 by 1 other user

In for some fireworks on this one. If someone can confirm the fee structure pre-September 2021, that would be good. IIRC it was 0.1% pa.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/654108

Fee structure is changing from $2.5/month to a fixed + percentage value.

Fee structure is now $2/month + portfolio percentage of:

Spaceship Origin Portfolio : 0.15% pa of net asset value
Spaceship Universe Portfolio : 0.5% pa of net asset value
Spaceship Earth Portfolio : 0.5% pa of net asset value

These changes are drastic and for someone with a balance of 30k (the old break even point), this changes fees from $30 per year to a whopping $174 per year.

For full detailed information see Changes to fees

E: polls thanks to Alvian

Poll Options

  • 3
    Staying
  • 44
    Leaving
  • 21
    Never had an account, wont consider spaceship for future investments
  • 3
    Never had an account, will consider spaceship for future investments
  • 12
    Already left when they began to gouge their loyal customers
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Comments

  • alvian on 23/01/2023 - 17:39
    +6

    This poll option would have the highest response.

    • Already left when they began to gouge their loyal customers.
    • str1k34 on 23/01/2023 - 17:51

      yeap, I was there for the start and I bailed already

    • ATangk on 23/01/2023 - 20:03

      Done

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 23/01/2023 - 17:42
    +5

    Been there since the very early days and the whole idea was NO fees for balances < $5k iirc.

    I had something like 4xxx in it, but I'm something like $1800 in the red lmao, it usually increases 0.0X…then dumps like double the increase.

    So yeah… seeing this got me just throwing my hands up into the air like wtf ever, spaceship. Just take it all mate. Just announce a full on FTX style implosion or something.

    Over it.

    • Ghost47 on 23/01/2023 - 18:19
      +1

      When did you invest with them?

      Anytime in the past 12 months I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve lost money. The past 12 months has been pretty bad all around and moreso for tech stocks which — when I was last invested with them — made up most of their Spaceship Universe portfolio.

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 23/01/2023 - 18:23

        Not sure how to check but around 2019 I think

        • Ghost47 on 23/01/2023 - 18:28

          Interesting, if you’ve been with them a few years I’d figure by now you’d at least be in the green (even if it’s only by $50).

          • Jimothy Wongingtons on 23/01/2023 - 18:33

            @Ghost47: I stopped dca after started going into red. If I had thrown money in at the bottom I’d prob be green by now but also woulda been paying fees - hindsight is 2020

          • BepisCola on 24/01/2023 - 08:42

            @Ghost47: I’ve been with them since 2019 as well and am at about a $5000 loss (that was from basically $50 a fortnight + some extra here and there)

    • itsfree on 24/01/2023 - 08:48

      Same exact situation. Invested $4625; sitting at $1870 loss (40.4%). I thought I'd stick with it in the long-run despite the fee increase, but now I'm concerned after comments here mentioning things like FTX.

      Should I just pull it and wear the loss? What would others do?

  • freefall101 on 23/01/2023 - 17:45
    +5

    Company with flashy marketing, funky app and low entry fees is seeing declining growth in customers and ramping up their costs as a result? That's unheard of!

    • jv on 23/01/2023 - 19:28
      -3

      and ramping up their costs

      Which costs or theirs are ramping up?

  • Drakesy on 23/01/2023 - 17:53

    Had too many of my friends go deep in the red on this one.
    Not touching them with a 10 foot pole.

    • jv on 23/01/2023 - 19:28
      +1

      what about a 3.048m pole?

      • Drakesy on 23/01/2023 - 19:31

        I may consider it at 3.049m

  • try2bhelpful on 23/01/2023 - 17:55

    Never heard of these guys.

    • lightfoot on 23/01/2023 - 23:16
      -1

      why are you even in this thread?

  • Ghost47 on 23/01/2023 - 18:17
    +5

    The people managing the Spaceship Universe portfolio simply rode the tech stocks wave and suddenly thought they were some sort of expert stock pickers. Spaceship Universe crashed hard I think in late 2021 and early last year. I pulled all my cash out and not gonna use them again.

    Raiz charges 0.275% on accounts >$15,000 and invest in ETFs which are less risky compared to funds like Spaceship that try to pick stocks.

  • o53djz7qTPY4der on 23/01/2023 - 18:42
    +3

    I switched from Spaceship to Raiz last year. Much better experience, fee structure and returns. Also love the round-up feature.

  • haydoz on 23/01/2023 - 19:23
    +3

    So anyone with >$1200 in Universe or Earth will be worse off.

    Really focusing on the "micro" part of microinvesting now.

  • ValueInvesting on 23/01/2023 - 20:10
    +5

    This decision allows us to create a sustainable business so that we can reinvest into our technology, team, and product, while remaining one of the lowest cost micro-investment apps in Australia.

    Translation: We need to increase our revenue because we're burning through too much cash and our business isn't sustainable.

  • chriise on 24/01/2023 - 01:07

    What other options are people considering?

    • itsfree on 25/01/2023 - 00:02
      +1

      I'm going to stick with Stockspot

      • Ghost47 on 26/01/2023 - 18:35

        Which portfolio are you using in Stockspot and how has it performed?

        I've considered investing with them since you can actually get the dividends paid out into a bank account, as opposed to Raiz who automatically reinvest them (so you have to manually withdraw from your portfolio whenever you want to realise them).

        • itsfree on 28/01/2023 - 13:39
          +1

          I'm using the Topaz portfolio. Deposited 60% of the funds in Aug 2021. Net return so far has been pretty decent at -1.72%, particularly given it's the highest risk portfolio. Certainly better than I have seen with Spaceship!

          • Ghost47 on 28/01/2023 - 23:29

            @itsfree: Hmm, fair enough. I do recall markets stagnating towards the end of 2021, and last year was a pretty horrible year overall for gains. The past couple of weeks has been quite good from what I've noticed in my Raiz portfolio ("Aggressive" so mostly stocks).

            Did you opt to receive dividends into your bank account in Stockspot? And in the app, is there an all-time chart that you can view? One thing I like about Raiz is that it shows me how my portfolio has performed since inception, so I can see all the way back to 2016 what the performance has been like.

  • holdenmg on 24/01/2023 - 09:36

    Isn't this now just a Ponzi scheme with revised fees?

  • mj7312 on 25/01/2023 - 03:46
    -1

    I love how they are only giving just over a month's notice. On March 1st they will take half a percent of your Voyager balance. Unbelievable. It's basically bait and switch - especially with how the portfolio is heavily down, so the only way to get out is to suck up a big loss, otherwise you have to pay the sudden huge fee. It's lose or lose. And for the crowning insult, you still have to pay the $2 monthly fee even on big balances.

    It's clear they are only doing this because their portfolios are down. You're meant to invest long term and ride out these long dips, so they are counting on people being trapped in, but you're also meant to know what the damn fees will be as well, not have them suddenly change to much, much higher than they have ever been.

    This is scummy as hell and I am out as soon as feasible. Never again.

    • holdenmg on 25/01/2023 - 08:29
      +1

      There seems to have been no consultation on this, merely an advice of "from this date, now this."

      No consideration is admitted of whether an increase could not have been applied to new investors or additions to existing balances post 1 March.

      There have been numerous fee changes over the years.

      In May 2018:
      "There are zero fees on your first $5,000, and then fees of 0.05% per year for our Spaceship Index Portfolio and 0.10% per year for our Spaceship Universe Portfolio for balances above that amount.

      That means an investment of $10,000 attracts fees of $2.50-$5.00 per year, that’s less than the cost of a take-away coffee."

      (I'm struggling to find a take away coffee for $5 in 2023). lol

      This was in an E-mail from Paul Bennetts, Chief Executive Officer and Founder Spaceship.

      Where is that Founder now?

      Former Spaceship CEO banned for faking AICD course
      https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/former-spac…

      • ATangk on 25/01/2023 - 16:31

        I was sure the old fee was 0.1%, this confirms it. It’s such a huge rort by suddenly changing fees like this, customer support is more like generic email responder at this point.

  • fez on 25/01/2023 - 16:57
    +1

    The fund that keeps giving taking

  • mj7312 on 25/01/2023 - 17:14
    -1

    It was really hard to get an answer from them on this but the annual fee apparently won't be charged like the monthly fee. It "will be reflected in the daily unit price from 1 March 2023".

    We'll have to see how it is displayed but it seems like they'll hide it in a 0.5% drop in the unit price rather than just charging you.

    • fLaMePrO on 25/01/2023 - 17:50

      Yeah but that still means your portfolio will drop 0.5% in value as of March 1st, right? Which is bullcrap, getting charged upfront for an entire year of (new) fees is really not OK. Especially when it is being applied retroactively.

  • sonic2011 on 26/01/2023 - 11:25

    they are just craps company…I should withdraw it all when I was lost a little. I don't think this company will grow in customer base. Only old customer will stay and they will drain our lost even more.

  • ATangk on 26/01/2023 - 12:03

    The new percentage-based management fee is calculated on the net asset value of each fund, and is reflected in the daily unit price.

    The fee is calculated daily and reflected in the unit price, so no, it does not come out of your specific units, but the total unit price of the fund. The management fee is not ‘compounded’. The fee is an annual charge that is calculated daily and reflected in the calculation of the daily unit price.

    So people won’t even realise they’re being charged these fees.

    What makes it worse is that if it’s calculated daily, they’ll probably round down, so their cut is larger.

  • Ceowullf on 26/01/2023 - 19:53

    I really don't know what to do…. I joined with them during the bull market in 21 and am down about 2200, I've just been DCAing in every pay check. They were recommended to me by a mate.

    These fee change are gross… So I save $6 in fixed fees and lose over $55 in its place.

    I'm angry.

    • wholedamnpomme on 28/01/2023 - 22:52

      Same mate. Either keep going, take the hit or check back in 6-12 months?

  • holdenmg on 27/01/2023 - 13:48
    +1

    Hi,

    I'm wondering if any Investors were induced by Paul Bennetts, Chief Executive Officer and Founder Spaceship having an completed an AICD course (above) and may have not elected to invest had they known it was taken by someone on his behalf.

    I guess people could have withdrawn their funds when/if they found out.

    Is there a problem that the viability of the Fund or Schemes may have been overstated by someone that claimed to have done an AICD course or maintained AICD Membership.

    Now Investors are being asked to not only suffer the ongoing underperformance losses but higher fees at a lower threshhold? Isn't this now a fine or penalty on investors for their own failings?

    What does ozbargain legal (class action) division think?

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