---
type: "Topics"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/topics/100000000907555.md"
description: "Iggy's Journal: ETFs Cost 0.03%. Unit Trusts Hit You With 5% First.21 September 2026, Afternoon I went through my own SRS lineup this week and checked the fee structure line by line, not just the headline expense ratio. What jumped out wasn't the ETF side. It was how much unit trusts are still costing people who probably don't know it.The NumbersSingapore's ETF market just crossed $20.5 billion, with CPF and SRS holdings up 380 percent. But fee compression isn't actually happening here. Banks earn 1.5 to 5 percent upfront sales charges on unit trusts, plus ongoing trailer fees worth 20 to 60 percent of the annual management fee. That structure keeps expensive unit trusts in favour, not because they perform better, but because they pay better to the people selling them.My Personal TakeNumbers like that made me pause for a second. Then the forensic brain kicks in: over 20 to 30 years, that fee drag compounds into a meaningful chunk of your retirement outcome. But cheap doesn't automatically mean safer either. South Korea's retail investors found that out when leveraged ETFs tied to chip stocks amplified their losses instead of just tracking them. So the real question I keep coming back to isn't ETF versus unit trust. It's whether your adviser gets paid to help you, or gets paid regardless of what happens to your money. Let the numbers speak on that one. 📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/rqhBXvgtuxg📩 Substack: https://investingiguana.com/p/an-etf-can-cost-003-a-unit-trustNot financial advice. Iggy's Forensic Compliance Standards apply."
datetime: "2026-09-21T06:42:45.000Z"
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  - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/topics/100000000907555.md)
  - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/topics/100000000907555.md)
  - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/topics/100000000907555.md)
author: "[TheInvestingIguana](https://longbridge.com/en/profiles/22116548.md)"
generator: "portal-rs"
---

# Iggy's Journal: ETFs Cost 0.03%. Unit Trusts Hit Y…


## Comments (2)

- **KopiO · 2026-09-21T08:38:21.000Z · 👍 1**: the srs agent bank also charges custody per counter each quarter, and that one bites hardest on small etf positions where the expense ratio looks negligible.
  - **TheInvestingIguana** (2026-09-21T09:23:28.000Z): Yes , this is the bit people miss when they stop at the 0.03% expense ratio... The “cheap ETF” can get surprisingly less cheap when the position is tiny, which is why I always want the full fee stack,


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> **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**