Does the Antipodes Global Fund – Long (PIE) charge a performance fee?
Yes — in addition to its annual fund charge.
Verbatim from the Product Disclosure Statement
15% of the Fund's performance above the Benchmark Index (MSCI All Country World Index (Net Return) (in New Zealand Dollar Terms)), calculated daily and paid annually as at 30 June each year, subject to a high water mark.
How to read a performance fee
A performance fee is paid only when the fund's return exceeds a hurdle benchmark — often the OCR plus a margin, or a market index. The fee is usually a percentage share of returns above the hurdle (commonly in the low double-digits) and is subject to a "high-water mark" so the same gain can't be charged twice. Many NZ MIS funds also impose a hard cap as a percentage of NAV so the perf fee can't run unbounded in a high-return year.
Performance fees vary year-to-year — a fund can show a high perf-fee number one period and zero the next, depending on whether it cleared its hurdle. The structural questions worth answering before investing are: What's the hurdle? (cash-rate hurdles are easier to clear than index hurdles) Is the high-water mark perpetual or annual? (perpetual = stronger investor protection) and Is there a cap? (cap = downside-bounded fee).