Finance watchdog warning over super switching calls
ASIC says lead generators and weak licensee controls helped funnel about $678 million into higher-risk super switching.
- On Monday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission revealed that 15 financial services licensees obtained more than 7,600 clients through lead generators between January 2025 and June 2026, often promoting risky superannuation switches.
- ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland warned that lead generators use "slick sales tactics to convince people to switch their super," practices that "can expose Australians to serious financial harm" by steering them toward high-risk schemes.
- Referrals led investors to shift about $678 million into new schemes, with more than 90 per cent from superannuation savings, while licensees deducted $9.8 million in upfront fees plus $4.5 million in annual ongoing charges.
- Five licensees lacked adequate controls to identify high-risk superannuation switching, with ASIC finding such practices "inconsistent with the obligations that apply to financial advisers" and putting firms at legal risk.
- Past collapses of Shield Master and First Guardian resulted in about 12,000 investors losing more than $1 billion, illustrating the dangers when lead generators steer clients toward risky investments without proper oversight.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Firms using telemarketers to spruik super switches could lose licences
Unqualified and unlicensed telemarketers are targeting Australians to switch their superannuation savings into riskier schemes. This has prompted the corporate regulator to threaten the licences of financial advice firms that use these "lead generators".
Sydney Morning Herald
The ‘immediate warning sign’ to protect your super
The financial regulator has put firms on notice after it found some were using unlicensed marketers trying to convince customers to switch or review their super.
ASIC Warns Advice Firms That Lead Generators Could Cost Them Their Licenses
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) warned financial advice firms today (Monday) that using lead generators may put their licenses at risk. A review of 15 license holders found unlicensed or unqualified lead generators taking part in the advice process.Those middlemen brought the 15 firms about 7,639 new clients from January 2025 to June 2026, or about 35% of their total intake, according to ASIC's Report 845.The clients …
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