Ausbil to refund platforms after fee overcharging

The responsible entity of the Ausbil Investment Trusts – Australian Emerging Leaders Fund advised investors that it would undertake remedial action regarding the overcharging between December 2004 and January 2014 because of an inconsistency between the fees outlined in the fund's Product Disclosure Statement and the fees permitted under the fund's constitution.

According to an ASIC statement, while Ausbil has completed the payment of compensation to direct investors, it is currently assisting platforms to make payments to their underlying clients impacted by the error.

"The timing of these payments will differ by platform. The compensation, it is anticipated, will return investors to the position they would have been in had the error not occurred," the statement said.

ASIC commissioner Greg Tanzer said: "ASIC welcomes Ausbil's identification and reporting of the overcharging issue, and action to compensate.

"We expect nothing less of entities who discover issues like this with their systems that are detrimental to their clients," Mr Tanzer said.

"ASIC will work with entities who report issues to us to ensure consumers are compensated in a timely, effective way."

Ausbil has appointed KPMG as an independent adviser to review the compensation methodology.