Latest news with #FalconCapital
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Victim of First Guardian super fund collapse speaks out on the horror toll of losing her life savings at 39
A gardener who lost $80,000 in the First Guardian Master Fund superannuation scandal has revealed she struggles to sleep at night and has constant headaches as a result of the stress. Danielle Adams, at 39, can still handle working as a gardening and lawn maintenance labourer in Brisbane and the Gold Coast for a company with local government contracts. But she shudders at the thought of delaying her retirement and working into old age for another 28 years, until she can get the age pension at 67. All because she trusted bad financial advice. 'I get to work in my home area and keep the public spaces beautiful. It is a physically demanding job but rewarding,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'I knew retirement is very far off in the distance for me so I had a future plan where I was hoping to wind down to part time work if my body begins to fail me, however with this blow, winding down will not be possible.' Her problems began in October 2023 when she had contacted Reilly Financial asking for advice on super after a referral from Super Wise. 'I was not after ridiculous growth, but steady growth and lower fees,' she said. Rhys Reilly, who ran Reilly Financial, still operates in Perth and was previously associated with Venture Egg, a marketing firm which First Guardian's parent company Falcon Capital had paid millions to aggressively sell its superannuation product. Ms Adams said she had lost the $80,000 in super she had built up over more than two decades of work, after agreeing to put her savings into First Guardian's growth strategies retirement product, via Diversa's AusPrac platform. Her account was frozen in March when the Australian Securities and Investments Commission made a Federal Court order to liquidate the assets of First Guardian Master Fund and its parent company Falcon Capital. 'Very stressful time but I have not lost as much as others have. I currently have 80k frozen and lodging all my formal complaints,' she said. 'Thank you for working on getting the word out about the highly deceitful and illegal web of scums that are involved.' She is one of 6,000 people who have lost their super, as she and her husband Ben pay off a mortgage, with two dogs, five chickens, a blue-tongue lizard and a turtle their only dependents. 'My mental state is taking a toll on my physical state,' she said. 'Sleepless nights, constant headaches, tight neck, sick gut. 'I can only count my blessing that I am dealing with this whilst on a forced closure from work due to it being the slow period. 'The thought of having to perform at work on top of this would be too much.' Ms Adams and her husband are now reconsidering plans to travel around Australia. 'We always wanted to do the lovely travelling around Australia,' she said. 'We have a mortgage that we are paying off, but since this crap we are more focused on trying to get it paid off as quickly as humanly possible so that when I do have to keep working we won't have a mortgage over our heads.' A First Guardian Facebook discussion group alleged someone had committed suicide as a result of losing their retirement savings, a claim Daily Mail Australia has been unable to verify. The loss of her super means she is planning to keep on working, with even plans for a modest retirement looking beyond her reach. 'That was kind of one of the plans we throw up in the air but we never really settled on anything except us both winding down and doing part retirement,' Ms Adams said. 'We knew our super would not be able to support a lavish retirement but we were expecting a retirement. 'I will work now until I can't. Also throwing ideas around for a second income stream. I guess my future looks very busy now.' The situation is also looking bleak with the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort's chief executive David Berry telling The Australian Financial Review only $300million was likely to be available for those who lost money from First Guardian Master Fund and Shield Master Trust - making up only a third of total losses. This is despite lost retirement savings of $1billion for both funds. The non-profit government scheme covers victims of financial misconduct, following a determination from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. FTI Consulting, the liquidator of First Guardian Master Fund and its parent company Falcon Capital, estimates retirement savers are still owed $446million. It last week told creditors the fund had paid $40million to a Venture Egg entity, Cornerstone Strategic Management, along with Atlas Marketing and Indigo Group, now all in liquidation, between August 2021 and February 2024. The creditors' report also revealed Falcon Capital director Simon Selimaj, 63, had spent $548,000 from other people's retirement savings on a Lamborghini Urus SUV. The fund also sent $242million offshore, making up almost half of the $505million fund. Director David Anderson had bought a $9million mansion on Melbourne's Yarra River in December 2020, in the upmarket suburb of Hawthorn.
ABC News
11-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
First Guardian investors may lose their super. Should you be worried about yours?
Investors in the collapsed First Guardian fund may struggle to recover their superannuation savings. In the wake of this, many Australians may be concerned about their own retirement savings and whether they could be at risk. Here's what happened at First Guardian and how super savings are generally protected in Australia. Up to $446 million of people's superannuation may have been lost by a managed investment scheme, First Guardian Master Trust. According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), investments were made into First Guardian by about 6,000 investors through superannuation platforms: ASIC understands that many of those investors were called by lead generators who used high-pressure sales tactics to allegedly lure them to transfer their super into a choice fund, and then invest in First Guardian. Falcon Capital is the responsible entity for First Guardian and is now in liquidation. Liquidators from FTI Consulting say the case will take at least a year to resolve and that they may never recover a dollar of their superannuation savings. However, the liquidator has flagged that they would give people who invested "priority" treatment in trying to recover their funds if they paid them a fee. FTI Consulting suggested that Falcon funnelled investors' money into "property developments and equity positions in related companies that may have shared a common director with the company". Super Consumers CEO Xavier O'Halloran says it is important for Australians to understand that what has collapsed is not a super fund but rather a managed investment scheme. This means it's not regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), which oversees the stability and transparency of super funds. "Think of an investment option like a brand of cereal in a supermarket or in this case the super fund's shelf." There is a compensation scheme that provides a small amount of protection when people suffer financial loss, like those from First Guardian. However, it's capped at $150,000 to consumers who have an unpaid determination from AFCA. "Typically a retiree can expect to retire with closer to $250,000, so that could create a massive hole in people's retirement plans," Mr O'Halloran said. The Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR) is an independent body, established under legislation by the government to support the victims of financial misconduct. When investing your super, Mr O'Halloran said there were far more protections on investments labelled as "MySuper". "These investments have to be designed to meet the needs of most members of a super fund and are performance tested annually by the regulator. "If they fail the performance test once, they have to let you know, which is a big red flag and you should consider whether to stay. "If they fail a second time they aren't allowed to take on new members until they can solve the problem, usually by merging with a better fund." If you have a MySuper account, you'll likely either have a: The YourSuper comparison tool helps you compare super funds based on their performance. But the First Guardian case highlights there are also big gaps in protection, Mr O'Halloran said. "Some other investment options are independently tested by the regulator, but First Guardian and any other products not designed by the super fund offering them typically aren't tested," Mr O'Halloran said. "Investment options designed for retirees are also not tested. "This is a massive gap the federal government needs to plug if they are serious about protecting the retirement savings of Australians." ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court says there are a number of red flags to look out for when it comes to sales calls about switching super. "The initial salespeople can be very persuasive. Often the underlying schemes are complex or not made clear to the consumer, and it may be very difficult for even experienced investors to spot problems," Ms Court said. "The caller will seemingly have your best interests at heart and may also involve referrals to financial advisers during the call to create a sense of comfort and legitimacy. "Consumers should always ask questions about salespeople's connections to funds, particularly in circumstances where a particular fund appears in the pitch, as there may be a commission arrangement." Here are the common warning signs: Speaking with ABC Radio Melbourne, stock market specialist Remo Greco from Sanlam Private Wealth says if you're being hassled to invest, "get good at saying no". "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is." Over the last year or so, there have been two other big collapses of these investment options. They are: The combined total losses, including First Guardian, could total $1.2 billion from over 12,000 Australians. You can check your super balance, combine accounts, and search for lost super by logging into your myGov account and then clicking on Australian Taxation Office (ATO) under linked services. To manage super in your ATO online account, you can follow these steps:
Daily Mail
04-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Inside the mega waterfront mansion and life of luxury a super fund manager accused of spending YOUR money on
The founder of a collapsed superannuation fund splurged more than $9million on a five-bedroom waterfront mansion before allegedly siphoning retirement savings from thousands of hard-working Aussies to himself. The First Guardian Master Fund is now in liquidation with 6,000 retirement savers owed $590million between them. David Anderson, 46, a director of the fund and a parent company Falcon Capital Limited, is accused 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. Records show he bought his five-bedroom, three-bathroom mansion in the upmarket inner-Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn for $9.040million in December 2020. The home on Glan Avon Road, built in 2014, backs onto the Yarra River and is in one of Melbourne 's most upmarket postcodes within walking distance of the city centre. The mansion would now be conservatively worth more than $10million, or almost four times Hawthorn's already expensive median house price of $2.6million, based on Cotality data. As anxious Australians wonder whether they will ever see their retirement savings again, Anderson allegedly lives a life of luxury in a waterfront home with a pool, a landscaped garden cascading down to the river and an interior with spotted gum hardwood floors and a sculptured staircase. The Federal Court this week agreed to an application from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to stop Mr Anderson and fellow Falcon Capital director Simon Selimaj, 63, from leaving Australia. ASIC in February obtained the power to freeze the assets of Anderson, the First Guardian Master Fund and Falcon Capital, with FTI Consulting appointed as liquidators in April. FTI Consulting has promised an initial report to creditors by July 9, with senior managing partners Ross Blakeley and Paul Harlond handling the case. 'Since our appointment, we have been conducting a critical assessment of the situation and position of the company and funds, in accordance with the court order to wind up the affairs of the entities,' a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia. 'We remain committed to providing the creditors of the company and unitholders of the funds with updates throughout the liquidation process, including regarding the potential for and timing of any returns.' PKF Melbourne partner Paul Allen was appointed a receiver of Anderson's property. Anderson is accused of siphoning $5.6million into his personal ANZ account 'without any legitimate basis for payments in that amount being apparent to ASIC or disclosed to investors'. The Melbourne-born company director is also accused of moving $274million overseas after learning of ASIC's investigation into financial irregularities. The First Guardian Master Fund was initially registered in August 2019 as a managed investment fund. But a search of Anderson's corporate history shows he had 20 roles with companies using the First Guardian name going back to 2014. These include First Guardian Property, First Guardian Synergy Capital, First Guardian Holdings, First Guardian Investments, First Guardian Services and First Guardian Capital. Anderson had been a director of Falcon Capital Limited since November 2012. His home address in Hawthorn was listed 72 times on his corporate file for a range of companies including the Rogue Traders Group and Rogue Traders Management which were wound up in March. His 34-page registry with ASIC and the Australian Business Register includes 102 roles that have ceased and 25 that are still current, with companies registered to his home address in Hawthorn and a rented commercial office space in nearby Richmond. Mr Anderson's defence lawyer Dan Mackay, a director of Mackay Chapman, previously said 'there have been no findings of fact or law by any court or tribunal, nor by ASIC'. 'Mr Anderson will fully exercise his rights in response to allegations which may be made against him at the appropriate time in the appropriate forum,' Mr Mackay said. Many Australians invested with First Guardian after being contacted by Venture Egg Financial Services, whose director Ferras Merhi Pty was a VFL ruckman. The Federal Court froze Mr Merhi's assets in February following an ASIC application.
Time of India
04-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
First Guardian Master Fund collapses, over 6000 Australians face superannuation loss
Thousands of Australians at risk as superannuation fund collapses Over 6,000 Australian investors may lose access to their retirement savings following the collapse of the First Guardian Master Fund . The fund, which received $590 million in superannuation investments, is now under investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ( ASIC ) for potential misuse of investor funds and undisclosed conflicts of interest. The First Guardian Master Fund was registered in August, 2019 as a managed investment scheme. Falcon Capital Limited, based in Melbourne, was responsible for managing the fund. In May 2024, Falcon Capital suspended applications and withdrawals, preventing most investors from accessing their superannuation or transferring funds to a new superannuation provider. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas Prices In Dubai Might Be More Affordable Than You Think Villas In Dubai | Search Ads Get Quote Undo Also read: The $100-a-week super habit that could save Aussie business owners from a $500,000 retirement shock Financial advisers directed superannuation transfers into risky scheme Many investors were guided by financial advisers to transfer their superannuation from established funds such as ANZ into First Guardian via retail choice super funds. Forklift driver Juan Carlos Sanchez reported being promised up to $1 million in retirement savings by telemarketers working for financial advisory firm Venture Egg . 'They were talking numbers of – 'we'll have you $800,000 in your super by the time you retire; a million dollars', really crazy things like that,' Mr. Sanchez told the ABC. Live Events Mr. Sanchez received an email in May, 2024 from the AusPrac fund confirming that withdrawals had been frozen. 'When I got that email, my stomach dropped, it's just been wiped out by this collapse,' he said. 'I just had this sick feeling.' ASIC alleges investor funds were not reinvested for growth but redirected into a cash hub controlled by First Guardian directors. Mr. Sanchez and thousands of other investors are now unable to access their superannuation balances. Also read: Superannuation changes explained: Why 80,000 retired and super-rich Aussies will pay more tax ASIC investigates fund misuse and offshore transfers ASIC alleges Falcon Capital director David Anderson funneled millions from First Guardian investors into his own business interests, including failed property developments and craft breweries. He was also reportedly a shareholder in ventures involving celebrity chef Scott Pickett. 'First Guardian has invested in entities which Mr. Anderson had an association with or financial interest in and Falcon appears to have failed to recognise and manage consequent conflicts of interest,' ASIC stated. In April, 2024, the Federal Court appointed FTI Consulting as Falcon Capital's liquidators following an ASIC application. Anderson's assets were frozen, and his passport seized. Along with Falcon director Simon Selimaj, Anderson is barred from leaving Australia until February, 2026. Public court documents allege Anderson transferred $274 million to offshore companies tied to him after receiving notice of the investigation. ASIC also identified $5.6 million deposited into Anderson's personal ANZ account without clear justification. Among these transactions was a $16,000 mortgage payment on Anderson's multimillion-dollar home. In its filings, ASIC claimed Falcon continued to reinvest limited funds into illiquid assets, despite previously indicating that it would prioritize investor redemptions once receivables were recovered. In a best-case scenario, regulators estimate $81 million remains unaccounted for. Also read: Trillions wiped from the economy and Americans' pensions as stock markets tank following Donald Trump's ta Financial adviser and marketing payments under regulator scrutiny ASIC is also investigating Melbourne-based financial adviser Ferras Merhi, head of Venture Egg Financial Services . Merhi is connected to 2,440 clients who collectively invested $179 million into the First Guardian Master Fund. The Federal Court has issued interim orders freezing select assets belonging to Merhi. Court documents allege Merhi received over $19 million in payments from First Guardian for marketing services while directing clients into the same fund. ASIC further alleges that $23 million in fund assets were disbursed for marketing purposes, contradicting representations made to investors. 'Everyone is running for the hills trying to cover their backsides. It's absolutely shameful,' said investor Greg McElherron. 'If you're going to be not only encouraged but mandated to put money into your super, it should be protected.' Investors used reputable super platforms before collapse Investors accessed the First Guardian Master Fund through well-known superannuation platforms, including Diversa, Netwealth, and Equity Trustees. They were advised to roll their superannuation balances into retail super funds or self-managed superannuation funds before transferring into First Guardian. David Anderson's attorney, Dan Mackay, stated, 'There have been no findings of fact or law by any court or tribunal, nor by ASIC. Mr. Anderson will fully exercise his rights in response to allegations which may be made against him at the appropriate time in the appropriate forum.' Also read: How will Trump tariffs affect retirement and 401Ks? ASIC's investigation into First Guardian Master Fund, Falcon Capital, and associated individuals remains ongoing. FAQs about the First Guardian Master Fund collapse 1. What is the First Guardian Master Fund and why did it collapse? The First Guardian Master Fund was a managed investment scheme that received $590 million from over 6,000 Australians through superannuation transfers. It collapsed in early 2024 following ASIC's investigation into alleged misuse of investor funds, conflicts of interest, and failure to manage investments appropriately. 2. Can superannuation investors recover their money from the First Guardian collapse? Recovery of superannuation funds from the First Guardian Master Fund remains uncertain. ASIC's best-case scenario analysis found $81 million unaccounted for. With much of the money allegedly moved offshore or invested in illiquid assets, full recovery appears unlikely for many investors. 3. Who is being investigated in connection with the First Guardian collapse? ASIC is investigating Falcon Capital directors David Anderson and Simon Selimaj, as well as financial adviser Ferras Merhi of Venture Egg Financial Services. Allegations include diversion of superannuation funds, offshore transfers, personal benefit payments, and undisclosed marketing commissions. 4. How were investors directed to invest in the First Guardian Master Fund? Investors accessed the First Guardian Master Fund via trusted super platforms like Diversa, Netwealth, and Equity Trustees. Financial advisers, including those from Venture Egg, encouraged clients to roll their superannuation into retail or self-managed super funds before investing in the scheme.
