Super funds - direct shares vs equity option - tax question

Many of the large super funds have an equities option as well as a direct shares option. I'm currently at a crossroads whether to switch mine (currently in 100% Australian Shares) to the direct shares and put the lot into VAS or LICs for effectively the same exposure. My thinking is - there might be a difference in tax. In the first option (the superfund's own equities option) I'm taxed at 15% of the gain in unit prices each year, which would include growth in the underlying assets as well as dividends received. However if I switch to direct shares and put the lot in, say, VAS, and hold long term, I would only be taxed 15% of the dividends each year and CGT only at sell time which could be decades in the future. Also I've noticed the management fee of the superfund's premix option (0.23% for First State Super's equities option, as an example) is higher than alot of the bigger LICs and of course VAS (0.14%) and there's no additional fee with the direct shares for some larger superfunds.

Has anyone done this comparison? Am I missing something here or am I right to say that it's tax advantageous (plus a fee saving) to opt for direct shares option and put the lot into an index fund or LIC?

 

bump - would love some insight

 

I was in ING direct choosing LICs and ETFs directly. The fees were quite reasonable but remember in addition to the super administration fees I was still required to pay brokerage and the management fee. ING got cheeky and increased their fee by an exorbitant amount as a percentage. Incensed I searched around for alternatives.

There are numerous similar super funds to ING offering direct investment but the fees were still a little high, either they had high management fees or brokerage fees or you had a choice of 5 LICs.

Then there is SMSF. If you have a large amount in super or you are borderline but intend to retire soon and want to roll it over into a smsf pension where you have a lot of control this may be your option.

However, when it comes down to absolute cheapskate fees I chose sunsuper. Overall I will be paying 0.19% in total and get to allocate between indexes covering AUS, INTERNATIONAL, PROPERTY and CASH / bonds (I have gone 50/50 with no property, bonds or cash). The fundamental problem with this option is the underlying transparency. Is the fund really tracking the index accurately? Am I getting the dividends reinvested fully or is someone slicing off a bit off the top. There is no way of knowing and this is my only concern. However I have tracked the historical progress of the Sunsuper indexes which have seemed to track VAS, VGS, VAP and VAF respectively.

Sunsuper is not the only low cost super fund. Australian Super, Host plus the list goes on.

I took into consideration a number of people who I consider experts on this forum who all confirmed that there is some merit in a simple set and forget super fund. The fact that I check daily if the market has talked is already way too OCD for my liking. Note I buy LICs and other ETFs outside super too.

Not licensed to give advice.