ASIC has commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against superannuation trustee Diversa Trustees, regarding the First Guardian Master Fund.
ASIC alleges Diversa failed to conduct adequate due diligence before allowing its members to invest and failed to conduct adequate ongoing monitoring.
Further, ASIC alleges that Diversa failed to enforce a 50 per cent holding limit it imposed for First Guardian and failed to have systems and processes in place to ensure that there was compliance with that holding limit.
Around $300 million was invested into First Guardian from 2020 to 2024 through superannuation funds for which Diversa was trustee.
ASIC alleges that Diversa failed to:
- Exercise the same degree of care, skill and diligence as a prudent superannuation trustee would
- Act in the best financial interests of its members
- Exercise due diligence in developing, offering and reviewing investment options
- Do all things necessary to ensure the financial services covered by its Australian financial services licence were provided efficiently, honestly and fairly.
ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said: “This is another significant action relating to the First Guardian collapse which is an ongoing enforcement priority for 2026.
“Superannuation trustees must put their members first by acting with care and skill and by carrying out proper checks on investment options made available on their platforms.
“This action furthers ASIC’s commitment to seek compensation for the victims of the Shield and First Guardian collapses wherever possible. Our first priority has been preserving assets for the benefit of investors to the extent they are available, and now we’re taking action to hold those we consider responsible to account with 11 cases underway in the Federal Court against 19 defendants.”
ASIC is seeking orders for compensation, declarations and civil penalties from the Court.
The action follows action by ASIC against Equity Trustees regarding due diligence failures around Shield Master Fund. Equity Trustees oversaw the investment of around $160 million of retirement savings into Shield over 2023 and 2024 through its fund.
According to ASIC, Equity Trustees, as trustee for the AMG Superannuation Fund and Super Simplifier, approved the four classes of Shield as investment options on the NQ Super and Super Simplifier platforms.
