The R1,000 we're prepared to lose (and the fee that's probably costing you a lot more)
From 3 August 2026, if you have R750 000 or more in a retirement annuity or living annuity, we'll compare your fees against ours. If we can't beat what you're paying, we pay you R1 000. Here's why we're willing to make that bet.
The reason investment fees are the f-word in South Africa isn't that they're offensive. It's that they're mostly hidden.
If you have a retirement annuity or living annuity, do this now. Pull up your last investment statement. Find the fee. It'll be a percentage, for example, 0.85%, 1.4% or 2.1%. Now multiply it by your balance and look at the rand figure. That's what left your investment last year. It'll leave again this year. And every year after that, for as long as you stay invested.
On a R500 000 balance at 3%, that's R15 000 a year. Compounding against you.
Most South Africans bought their retirement products from a traditional insurer, back when fees were split across three separate percentages you were never expected to add up. Commissions were front-loaded, so the first few years of contributions barely grew. If you asked what it would cost you over 30 years, you didn't get a clear answer.
The industry has since changed. Fees have come down. And Effective Annual Cost (EAC), a single standardised number that adds up every fee you pay into one percentage, now makes honest comparisons possible.
So we're going to make comparison easier. From 3 August 2026, if you have R750 000 or more in a retirement annuity or living annuity, we'll generate a personalised quote and show you the EAC of your recommended Alexforbes solution. If we can't beat your current provider's EAC on a like-for-like basis, we'll pay you R1 000.
What ONEfee is
Digital advice, administration and fund management, combined into a single fee. One number on your statement.
Not separate fee percentages. Separate fees confuse people. Separate fees make it harder to compare.
But the mechanic underneath is where it gets interesting. ONEfee has three bands:
The middle band is the part that matters. It's a fixed rand fee. That means as your investment grows, the fee stays the same. Most investment fees are charged as a percentage of your balance. So even if the percentage doesn't change, the rand amount you pay increases as your investment grows.
We didn't set out to build the cheapest fee in the market. We set out to build a fee that makes sense. As your investment grows, the fee in the middle band stays the same. That's a deliberate design choice.
That's one of the reasons ONEfee is often included in independent comparisons of South Africa's most competitive investment fee structures.
Why we're prepared to lose R1 000
For retirement and living annuity holders with R750 000 or more, the effective annual cost we typically see on incoming quotes sits between 2% and 3%, once every fee layer is honestly added up.
The industry has spent decades hiding fees behind multiple percentages and disclosures. We are willing to bet R1 000 on a like-for-like comparison. Nobody else in the country is. That should tell you something.
Compare. Submit. That's it.
- Get your quote. Tell us a little about yourself and your retirement or living annuity. We’ll prepare a personalised quote.
- See your fees. We’ll show you the Effective Annual Cost (EAC) of your recommended Alexforbes solution. Compare it with your current provider on a like-for-like basis.
- Invest online or get advice. If our fees are lower, you can invest online in just a few clicks or request a call from one of our advisers. If they're not, we'll pay you R1 000. Ts & Cs apply.
Terms and conditions apply. Runs on quotes completed from 3 August 2026. One qualification per person.
Not eligible for the R1 000 offer? Put us to the test anyway. Get a personalised quote, compare your fees on a like-for-like basis and see whether you could be paying less with Alexforbes.