The base management fee charged by retail fund managers could become a relic and be replaced by a model under which clients are only charged a fee when a positive return is made.

Some investors have grown impatient with paying management fees while their capital dwindles in the current crisis.

"There is no doubt that in a low-return, low-inflation environment there will be a push for fund managers to cut management fees and be paid on performance," Clime Investment Management managing director John Abernethy told InvestorDaily.

Clime runs the High Yield Underdogs Fund, which charges no management fees and a performance fee of 10.25 per cent over positive returns.

This means Clime has not charged any fees for this fund in 2008.

Abernethy said he expected more funds to abandon management fees in the next 12 months.

Orbis Investment Management Australia managing director Simon Marais also expected to see a reduction in the average management fee, but doubted management fees would ever get to zero.

"It will head towards the costs for index funds, because there is a basic cost for just administration and sending out statements before there is any cost for analysis," he said.

Charging no management fees can also threaten the stability of a fund, Plato managing director Don Hamson said.

"A fund manager can have a couple of bad years and the fund can go out of business, or they close the fund because they can't justify those kinds of fee structures," Hamson said.

Wingate Asset Management chief investment officer Chad Padowitz said it could also lead to irresponsible investment decisions in an attempt to produce positive figures.

"In falling markets, managers could take excessive risks," Padowitz said.