Invest in SMA or replicate portfolio?

I have some funds to invest and was just wondering about the option to either invest in an SMA @ 0.97% p.a. or just to replicate their portfolio.

I am thinking there must be a breakeven point at which the direct investment would become cheaper (surely?) than the SMA; as direct investment should only have brokerage costs. The disadvantage of DIY is the opportunity cost of potentially only finding out the movements after the SMA trades. I also need to review the SMA structure to ensure there's no ownership or other issues.

The portfolio in question would probably usually have 20-25 stocks; and I know my brokerage rates but will investigate lower cost options - my brokerage is 0.15% (min $33). There have only been about 15 trades in calendar YTD to utilise cash & rebalance - trades are being done with about 1% of portfolio value, weightings are generally in the 3.xx% range and there's one or two above and below that.

I'll have to breakout the spreadsheet over the weekend and figure out the $ involved, unless anyone has already done this sort of maths?

 

May be cheaper but trying to do all the work to replicate what a professional manager is doing just to save on fees is a crazy way to think IMO. You will always be a few steps behind them and carry far more risk of making an error and ending up in a mess. Not to mention add to your personal daily workload and move one step further away from TRUE retirement.