The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is pursuing legal action to broaden its case against a former financial adviser, alleging serious misconduct in his advisory practices. The charges include engaging in unconscionable conduct, failing to act in clients’ best interests, providing conflicted advice, and issuing incorrect statements of advice while profiting significantly.
According to ASIC, the adviser allegedly utilized marketing firms to attract clients to his financial advisory businesses, specifically Venture Egg and the now-defunct Financial Services Group Australia (FSGA). During the period from 2020 to 2024, it is claimed that he and his team advised clients to invest approximately $296 million of their retirement savings into the First Guardian Master Fund and another $230 million into the Shield Master Fund.
In exchange for these investments, it is alleged that his businesses received around $18 million in upfront consulting fees and over $19 million for marketing the First Guardian fund to clients. Both funds have since collapsed, putting the retirement savings of many clients at significant risk.
ASIC plans to assert that the adviser, along with his associated companies, violated numerous obligations intended to protect clients, and that their business practices were deeply unethical. The regulator also intends to argue that the adviser provided clients with misleading advice that falsely implied the Shield Master Fund was operated by the reputable Macquarie group. Additionally, he allegedly misrepresented the absence of any conflicts of interest concerning the recommended funds while actually profiting from marketing these financial products.
Clients were reportedly under the impression that they were receiving personalized, independent advice. Contrary to this belief, the clients were allegedly funneled into predetermined investment portfolios characterized by high risk, which primarily benefitted the adviser’s businesses.
ASIC’s request to expand the allegations is pending court approval. If the court grants this permission, the regulator will seek several injunctions, including the prohibition of the adviser from participating in any financial services, the appointment of a receiver to oversee his personal assets, and the placement of provisional liquidators in charge of the advisory firms.
Earlier in the year, the court issued interim freezing orders on the adviser’s assets, which are effective until December 2025. The financial services license of FSGA was canceled as of June 2025, and its responsible manager was permanently banned from the industry. Furthermore, travel restrictions were placed on the adviser in July 2025, preventing him from leaving Australia until the court rules otherwise.
These developments display ASIC’s commitment to holding financial advisers accountable for unethical practices and ensuring the protection of investors’ interests in the financial advisory industry.