Platform Switching Cost Calculator
People weigh up a platform switch by looking for exit fees, find there are none, and conclude it is free. It is not, and the largest cost is usually the one nobody sends you a bill for. Moving a portfolio generally means selling on one side and buying on the other, which crosses a spread twice, and it means your money sits in cash for however long the transfer takes. Those days out of the market have an expected cost equal to the growth the money would have earned, and on realistic transfer times that figure is larger than every explicit charge combined. This page totals all of it: any fixed or percentage exit charge, the spread on the way out and the way back in, any currency conversion if the two platforms hold assets in different currencies, and the expected cost of the days spent in cash. It then does the thing that actually settles the decision, which is to compare the one-off cost against the annual saving that prompted the switch and report a payback period. That framing matters, because a cost paid once against a saving that repeats every year is almost always worth paying if the horizon is long, and the anxiety about switching costs is usually out of proportion to them. It is also honest about the biggest number on the page: the cost of being out of the market is an expectation, not a certainty, and over a short window the market is about as likely to fall as to rise, in which case being out would have helped you.
Time out of the market = the amount finally invested × ((1 + expected return)days / 365 − 1). It is the growth forgone over the window, compounded rather than pro-rated, so it is consistent with how the return is quoted.
It is an expected cost, not a certain one. Over a short window a market is roughly as likely to fall as to rise, in which case being out helps you. What is certain is the absence of exposure in either direction.
Payback period = total switching cost / annual saving. The cost is one-off and the saving repeats, which is why the period rather than the cost is the decision.
The annual saving is applied to the portfolio value as a percentage. If your saving comes from a fixed fee rather than a percentage one, convert it first.
Percentage costs scale with the portfolio, so the payback period is unchanged by size. A fixed exit fee is the exception and makes switching relatively dearer for smaller portfolios.
Excluded: tax, since a New Zealand long-term investor is generally not taxed on the gain when selling shares, though frequent trading can change that position; any difference in the assets held before and after; and the value of your own time.
Excluded: the saving compounding. Treating it as a flat annual amount understates the benefit over long horizons, which makes the payback period conservative.
Not financial advice. Last verified: August 2026.
Where the cost comes from
| Cost | Charged by | Amount | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time out of the market, 10 days | Nobody | $148.13 | 48.09% |
| Sell spread | The fund you leave | $80.00 | 25.97% |
| Buy spread | The fund you join | $79.92 | 25.94% |
| Exit fee, fixed | The old platform | $0.00 | 0.00% |
| Exit fee, percentage | The old platform | $0.00 | 0.00% |
| Currency conversion | The new platform | $0.00 | 0.00% |
| Total cost of switching | $308.05 | 0.385% of the portfolio |
Every line except the first is invoiced to you somewhere. The first is the largest and the only one you will never see written down.
How long it takes to pay back
| Annual saving at 0.40% | $320.00 |
| One-off cost of switching | $308.05 |
| Payback period | 0.96 years |
| Explicit costs alone would repay in | 0.50 years |
| Net gain after 10 years | $2,891.95 |
The cost is paid once. The saving arrives every year. That asymmetry is why a payback period, rather than the cost itself, is the number that decides this.
Your position year by year
| After | Saved so far | Less the switching cost | Net position | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | $320.00 | -$308.05 | $11.95 | Ahead |
| 2 years | $640.00 | -$308.05 | $331.95 | Ahead |
| 3 years | $960.00 | -$308.05 | $651.95 | Ahead |
| 5 years | $1,600.00 | -$308.05 | $1,291.95 | Ahead |
| 10 years | $3,200.00 | -$308.05 | $2,891.95 | Ahead |
The saving is treated as a flat annual amount rather than compounding, which understates the benefit and makes the payback period conservative.
How much the transfer time matters
| Days out | Cost of being out | Total cost | Share that is invisible | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0, transferred in specie | $0.00 | $159.92 | 0.00% | 0.50 years |
| 5 days | $74.03 | $233.95 | 31.64% | 0.73 years |
| 10 days | $148.13 | $308.05 | 48.09% | 0.96 years |
| 20 days | $296.54 | $456.46 | 64.97% | 1.43 years |
| 30 days | $445.23 | $605.15 | 73.57% | 1.89 years |
At thirty days, three quarters of the cost of switching is something nobody charges you and most people never count.
No Exit Fee Does Not Mean No Cost
The instinctive check is whether the platform charges to leave. On the worked example it does not, and switching still costs $308.05.
$159.92 of that is spreads, charged on the way out and the way back in. The rest, $148.13, is ten days of not being invested, which is 48.09% of the total and the largest single line on the page.
Nobody invoices it, nothing reports it, and it is usually bigger than everything that does appear on a statement.
Worked Example: Moving $80,000
No exit fee. A 0.10% sell spread costs $80.00. A 0.10% buy spread on what remains costs $79.92.
Ten days in cash at a 7.00% expected return costs $148.13.
Total $308.05, which is 0.385% of the portfolio.
Against a 0.40% annual fee saving worth $320.00 a year, it repays in 0.96 years and is $1,291.95 ahead by year five.
The Honest Caveat On The Biggest Number
The cost of being out of the market is an expectation, not a bill. It is what your money would have earned on average over those days.
Across ten days a market is roughly as likely to fall as to rise. If it falls while you are out, being out helped you, and you are better off than this calculation suggests.
What is certain is the absence of exposure in either direction. So treat the figure as the fair price of the risk you are taking rather than as money you will definitely lose, and be sceptical of anyone using it as a reason never to switch.
Ask About Transferring In Specie First
One question can remove most of this. A transfer in specie moves the holdings themselves rather than selling and rebuying, which eliminates both spreads and every day out of the market.
On the worked example that takes the cost from $308.05 to $159.92 if only the spreads go, and to nothing at all if the holdings move intact.
It depends on both platforms holding the same products and it is not always available. It can also take longer in elapsed time, which does not matter, because you stay invested throughout. Ask before assuming you have to sell.
Transfer Time Is The Input That Decides It
Everything else on this page is fixed by the fee schedules. The days out of the market is the one number that varies enormously and the one people guess.
At 0 days the cost is $159.92 and the payback is 0.50 years. At 30 days it is $605.15 and 1.89 years.
Ask both platforms for a realistic figure in business days, and treat the brochure answer as optimistic. Where a transfer might straddle a month end or a public holiday, add for it.
Payback Is The Right Frame
Switching costs cause more anxiety than they deserve, because a one-off number is easy to picture and an annual saving is not.
The cost is paid once. The saving arrives every year for as long as you stay. On the worked example the switch is ahead after 0.96 years and $2,891.95 ahead by year ten, and that treats the saving as flat rather than compounding, so it understates the benefit.
The genuine argument against switching is not the cost, it is switching repeatedly. Each move pays the full cost again and restarts the payback clock. Our managed fund fee drag calculator shows what the saving is worth over a lifetime once you stay put.
Check You Are Comparing Like With Like
A switch only delivers the saving if the destination holds what you actually want. A cheaper fund holding different assets is not a saving, it is a different investment that happens to cost less.
Our fund overlap calculator checks whether two funds do the same job, and our tracking difference calculator checks whether the fee saving you are chasing is real, since a fund's true cost is usually a little above its stated fee.
If the move involves a currency conversion, our FX spread vs fee calculator checks whether the advertised conversion rate is the real one, because a mark-up buried in the exchange rate can exceed every other cost here.
Related NZ Platform and Fee Calculators
- Managed Fund Fee Drag Calculator: what the saving is worth over a lifetime.
- Membership Tier Break-Even Calculator: whether a tier change beats a platform change.
- Tracking Difference Calculator: whether the fee saving is real.
- Fund Overlap Calculator: whether the destination holds the same things.
- FX Spread vs Fee Calculator: the conversion cost if the move crosses currencies.
- Switching Banks: background on this topic.
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