Australians are being urged to check their superannuation accounts amid fears thousands may be caught up in the collapse of two major investment funds – without even realising their retirement savings have gone.
First Guardian and Shield Master went under in May 2024 owing about $1.2 billion, with more than 12,000 investors believed to have been affected.
Yet only 1,860 complaints have been lodged with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, sparking concerns many people may not realise their money is missing.
ASIC alleges First Guardian director David Anderson, 46, siphoned millions of dollars from the fund. into his personal ANZ bank account
ASIC also alleges Anderson moved $274 million offshore after learning he was under investigation.
Before the fund went under, he purchased a $9 million mansion in Melbourne’s Hawthorn.
Fellow director Simon Selimaj, 63, had a $548,000 Lamborghini Urus registered in his name, which is alleged to have been bought using money from the fund.
Liquidators say just $1.6 million has so far been recovered from the $1.2 billion collapse.
First Guardian victim Melinda Kee (pictured) lost $360,000 in retirement savings and is urging people to check their super accounts before it’s too late to file a complaint
David Anderson, 46, a director of the First Guardian fund, is accused by ASIC of siphoning millions of dollars into his personal ANZ bank account and shifting money overseas after the corporate regulator launched an investigation into his business affairs
When First Guardian went under, Melinda Kee saw $360,000 of her retirement savings vanish.
Now, as an administrator for Save Our Super, she is urging others affected by the collapse to lodge complaints with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, warning it is often the key step toward securing compensation.
She warned AFCA deadlines are strict, and missing the cut-off could mean losing the right to seek compensation through the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort, a government initiative that provides up to $150,000 for consumers with unpaid financial misconduct claims.
‘While 1,860 complaints may seem significant, the figure is misleading because many investors have lodged multiple complaints against different entities,’ Ms Kee told Daily Mail Australia.
‘In reality, fewer than 1,000 individuals have come forward. The true scale of the crisis is likely far worse, with many people still unaware their retirement savings are either frozen or gone.’
While investigations into the collapse continue, attention has also turned to the financial platforms that made the funds available to investors.
For some affected Australians, that scrutiny has already led to compensation, with more than 1,000 people who invested in First Guardian via fintech platform Netwealth set to share in $100 million following the fund’s collapse.
Under a court-enforceable undertaking, Netwealth has agreed to repay affected members 100 per cent of what they invested in First Guardian, minus any withdrawals already made, with payments due by January 30.
Just $1.6 million has been recovered from the $1.2 billion First Guardian collapse, and many investors still don’t know their retirement savings could be gone.
In a statement of agreed facts, Netwealth admitted to the financial regulator that it failed to adequately assess or understand the risks before making First Guardian available to clients on its platform.
Netwealth chairman Michael Wachtel said repaying affected members promptly had been the company’s top priority.
‘It became clear that the only way to restore members in a timely manner was to reach an agreement with ASIC under which Netwealth would fund the compensation to affected members,’ he said.
Macquarie Group also made a similar agreement, with $321 million to be paid to about 3,000 people who invested in Shield through its platform.
But despite those two groups stepping in to compensate victims, Ms Kee said thousands of investors may be unaware their financial advisers placed their retirement savings into the funds.
‘How do you warn people they are running out of time if they don’t check their super or worse, don’t realise their adviser placed their money into one of these funds?’ she said.
‘If you miss the deadline to complain to AFCA, there will be no second chance.’
First Guardian victim Peter, who is using a pseudonym, said a financial adviser persuaded him to shift his super onto a platform and invest more than $440,000 in First Guardian.
‘The financial adviser told me that I only have a few years to go until retirement and it’s better I move into a higher growth account, so I thought he knows what he is talking about and went with what he suggested,’ Peter said.
At 64, after more than two decades working in the mining industry, Peter was preparing to retire.
‘I was hoping I would be able to retire with a comfortable income,’ he said.
‘But because of the situation I’m in now, I’m scared I might have to work another 20-odd years to get enough money to survive on, or until I drop.’
He is now pinning his hopes on the liquidators’ work and his complaint to AFCA.
Ms Kee said she has spent countless evenings speaking with victims, including one person who was contemplating suicide.
‘I hear the same story repeatedly, shock, confusion, shame and despair when people realise their retirement savings are frozen or gone,’ she said.
‘One woman told me she coped better when her home burned down in a bushfire than when she discovered her super had vanished.
‘This is not an abstract policy failure. It is human devastation.’
Ms Kee said she has repeatedly brought the issue of ‘missing investors’ to the attention of key regulators.
‘This is not about apportioning blame after the fact. It is about preventing a second injustice, one created not by fraud, but by inaction, poor communication and missed deadlines.
‘Check your super. Tell your parents. Tell your friends. And if government agencies know where these investors are, they must stop waiting for them to stumble forward alone.’
