when you buy an index ETF like VAS online via Commsec you are not charged any fees yourself, other than brokerage fee which for $50K purchase is a one off fee of 0.12% or $60 if you have a CDIA bank account ( Commonwealth Direct Investment account ), or else 0.31% if you use a different bank account. It's easy to get a CDIA. Brokerage fees are higher if you buy over the phone instead of online. the management fee of 0.1% p.a is not charged to you but is taken from portfolio returns so affects the share price but at 0.1% it is pretty negligible. VAS pays dividends quarterly and you choose whether direct credited to your nominated bank account, or reinvest in additional shares via the DRP ( dividend reinvestment plan ) . You make that decision via the Share Registry website which for VAS is Computershare. You'll receive paperwork about that once you have bought the shares. Log into Computershare to see your shareholding and enter your Tax file number, bank account details and DRP yes/no choice for any shares you own that Computershare provides the Share Registry service for. To grow the investment you are better off participating in the DRP which provides compounding returns over time and there is no brokerage fee in DRP. The only negative to that is the calculations required to work out Capital Gains Tax when selling the shares in future, so need to keep good records. Alternatively if you receive the dividends into your bank account and then buy further shares yourself from time to time you get charged brokerage fee each time.
