Overview
- On Monday ASIC published a 29-page report that followed a 15-month review of six platform trustees responsible for about $300–424 billion in member funds and said it found persistent gaps in oversight.
- The regulator flagged weak checks on advice documents, poor tracking of fee patterns and member churn, and fee caps that in some cases were as high as $25,000 with one trustee proposing $30,000.
- ASIC linked those weaknesses to harmful switching into less-scrutinised investments and noted the collapses of Shield and First Guardian cost roughly 11,000 investors about $1 billion in retirement savings.
- The watchdog has given trustees time to fix the problems but warned it is actively considering naming underperforming trustees, pursuing enforcement action and expecting policy changes on switches.
- Treasury consultations and industry submissions are now weighing measures to protect members, with consumer groups warning younger and low-balance savers face the greatest risk from high fees and risky switching.