Latest news with #superfund
Daily Mail
15-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Banned financial adviser who told Aussies nearing retirement to invest life savings in First Guardian super likened himself to a personal trainer dealing with 'attitude'
A banned financial adviser linked with collapsed super fund First Guardian had likened himself to a personal trainer dealing with 'attitude' when it came to guiding clients. Joel Hewish, 43, last year had his financial licence cancelled for a decade after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission found his Melbourne-based private wealth management company, United Global Capital, had contacted prospective clients and advised them to put their self-managed super fund into highly speculative investments linked to him. 'ASIC banned Mr Hewish having found that he demonstrated a fundamental lack of competence, and a cavalier attitude to his management of UGC and the importance of complying with financial services laws,' the corporate regulator said. Canberra couple Simon and Annette Luck had relied on UGC's advice to invest in the First Guardian Master Fund, which is now in liquidation leaving 6,000 retirement savers in limbo. The $505million fund had invested almost half its assets overseas. Mr Hewish, who is still a property developer in Melbourne, had previously likened himself to a personal trainer when asked by My Business Podcast host Rob Verhoeve to describe the perfect client. 'The perfect client for us doesn't really come down to how much money they've got, it comes down to how engaged they are in the process,' he said in this March 2023 interview. 'It comes down to their willingness to engage with their adviser, to go through the process of developing a clear picture of what it is that they want out of the whole process and that they're willing to learn, listen and have the right attitude to taking those adjustments that might need to be made and working with them.' He argued clients had a 'responsibility to take what we show them' and adopt that advice. Asked if that made him the financial equivalent of a personal trainer, he said: 'It very much is a personal trainer in many respects.' ASIC last year revoked Mr Hewish's Australian financial services licence and banned him as a financial services representative until June 2034. His UGC company was also placed into liquidation. Retired Customers officer Simon Luck, 61, in 2012 had engaged UGC to invest his self-managed super fund. Him and his wife Annette Luck, 56, have now lost $340,000 that had been invested with First Guardian Master Fund, owned by Falcon Capital. 'We're not financial wizards my wife and I - we pay good money to trust these so-called licensed professionals to invest on our behalf,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'I guess gutted is probably the right word.' FTI Consulting estimates 6,000 investors, who had their super with First Guardian, stand to conservatively lose $446million with $242million worth of retirement savings invested offshore. First Guardian Master Fund director David Anderson had bought a $9million mansion at Hawthorn, on Melbourne's Yarra River, in December 2020. The Canberra-based Lucks are now contemplating selling their house to live in a caravan, and putting off trips to The Netherlands and the UK to visit relatives, losing hope they would ever be able to use their super to pay off their mortgage. 'After having paid thousands upon thousands of dollars for these so-called professionals to manage our fund to be left in this predicament is unbearable,' Mr Luck said in a letter to his federal Labor member Andrew Leigh. 'I did this wisely through licensed financial advisers, for which I paid thousands of dollars a year to manage. 'UGC had invested my wife and I's entire superannuation with a regulated and licensed fund First Guardian, which ASIC have now also placed a freeze on.' He also expressed his dismay in a letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. 'I have no doubts that both Mr. David Anderson (Falcon Capital investment) and Mr. Joel James Hewish (director United Global Capital) continue to live a lavish and luxurious lifestyle and would be able to enjoy the fruits of their ill gotten gains and have benefited greatly from tax minimisation strategies available to them, however, my wife and I are not so lucky and will never get to enjoy a stress free retirement thanks to them and the lack of financial protection provided,' he said. Annette said the regulators had failed to stop the likes of Mr Anderson. 'We are both feeling entirely let down by the lack of "protection" our so called financial regulated system provides and have lost a lot of trust and faith in so called "Australians" and see Mr. David Anderson as no better than an overseas scam agent,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Hewish's licence was cancelled after ASIC found that UGC had lured people into investing in UGC-related products by cold calling prospective clients and offering them a 'free superannuation health check'. He appealed his ban to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, after ASIC said he 'created a culture of non-compliance and incompetence at UGC, and cannot be trusted to comply with financial services laws'. Hewish features as a director on the website of Melbourne-based property developer Hewson. It is linked to Serpells Road Pty Ltd, the developer of a luxury apartment complex at Templestowe in Melbourne's east. Mr Hewish's X account describes him as a 'professional stock and real estate investor and speculator. Former Founder, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of a multi-disciplined wealth management business'. It lists his based as New York even though his ASIC file shows him as a director of companies in Melbourne and the Gold Coast. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Hewish for comment.
ABC News
10-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
HESTA denies 'systemic issue' as some members can't access their money
HESTA's chief operating officer, Stephen Reilly says most super fund members can access their money and there is "no systemic issue".
ABC News
10-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
HESTA executive says super fund's operations 'normal', despite outrage from members and advocates
One of HESTA's top executives says most of its 1 million members are able to access their superannuation, despite some members reporting ongoing delays and problems. The super fund's chief operating officer Stephen Reilly acknowledged some members are struggling to access their money, but said it was not the case for most. HESTA, one of Australia's largest superannuation funds, went offline at the start of April in a planned outage affecting more than 1 million Australians. The industry super fund was changing its administration provider, which it said would provide a better outcome for members, and first notified customers in February. Despite the fund returning online at the start of June, dozens of members have since contacted the ABC, distressed they still cannot access their money. In an interview with The Business, Mr Reilly acknowledged delays in the contact centre and long wait times but said there was "no systemic issue". "This is a case by case basis, most members are able to access whatever it is they need to do," he said. "We've been able to process over $800 million worth of payments. We've got a quarter of a million people accessing online. These sorts of numbers tell us that the system is working. "I do acknowledge we've had some members who've had some issues and those are case by case. I apologise to each and every one of those but we just have to work through them case by case." While Mr Reilly offered assurances of no systemic issue, a HESTA spokesperson later confirmed that the changeover to a new administrator had led to problems with some members receiving their super contributions. HESTA member Carol Varenhout contacted ABC News after failing to get onto the fund about missing contributions in her account. Ms Varenhout has been salary sacrificing part of her pay into her retirement savings each fortnight — something she has been doing for years. Records showed the money should have been processed into her super account, but when she emailed HESTA, she got no response and after waiting on hold on the phone, she hung up. In response to questions about Ms Varenhout's missing contributions, a HESTA spokesperson said that in a "small number of cases", super contributions had been misdirected to the fund's old administrator, attributing the problem to third parties. "Prior to the transition we had informed employers of our administrator's new banking details. Some employers use remittance agencies to handle payment of super contributions," the HESTA spokesperson said. "In a small number of cases, these banking details were not updated by an agency, with contributions paid into an account at our previous administrator. "Our team has been working with employers, relevant agencies and our current and former administrators to ensure the use of current bank details, and to allocate these contributions. The spokesperson said HESTA had reached out to Ms Varenhout to resolve her issue. "They need to make full disclosure for why this is happening and how widespread it is," Ms Varenhout said. Dozens of Australians have contacted the ABC since the start of the planned outage, distressed and concerned about when they will receive their funds, with many feeling financial and emotional hardship. Super Consumers Australia chief executive Xavier O'Halloran has described HESTA's response to the outage as "appalling". Helen Triggell has been waiting on her money from HESTA for more than two months, after putting in a withdrawal application at the start of May. "I've understood there's a lot of people waiting, but now that time's gone by, I'm starting to panic … because I would have liked this [to be] done with." The aged care worker from Bega, NSW applied for a lump sum of her retirement savings to finalise her mortgage. Despite contacting HESTA several times, the super fund did not respond to her emails and after waiting on hold for long periods, she gave up. "You put your trust in them and being with them all these years … it would be nice to hear from them to let me know how things are going and maybe when I will get it." Ms Triggell said she is nearing retirement and was hoping to cut back a day of work as she starts this transition. "I was hoping to have dropped a day by now but it looks like it's not going to happen until I get my money," she said. A HESTA spokesperson said the fund would contact Ms Triggell to resolve her issue, after ABC News made it aware of her case. In response to questions about the HESTA planned outage and the ongoing issues facing some members, Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino said "it is crucial that superannuation members have appropriate access to funds and services". "I would expect the relevant regulators are looking closely at this matter. "Improving service for members is important. While most funds offer services that meet or often surpass community expectations, there have been some areas where some funds have fallen short." A spokesperson for corporate watchdog, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, has said "ASIC is aware of the situation and is considering its regulatory response". Mr O'Halloran told ABC News he met with HESTA executives early this week, and was informed the super fund is still behind on processing claims. "They indicated they think they're still another two weeks before they get out of the woods on this one," he said. "They told us they've brought on another 50 staff for their customer service lines to help meet that resourcing gap. Mr O'Halloran said multiple executives from HESTA have told him the super fund has struggled to meet the demand from its members. "We know that they're under resourced and that they weren't able to pick up calls in timely ways, and they're still struggling with that today. Mr O'Halloran said he has also spoken to multiple members of HESTA who have lost money through this process. "People who have lost money as a result, waiting for property transactions to go through, had to get bridging finance in order to cover the cost because they can't draw down their money from their superannuation account." He urged anyone in this position to contact the super fund and if the response is unsatisfactory, consider complaining to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). "We know that they are looking at those cases and considering whether compensation is appropriate — if you're not happy with the response you get, escalate it." HESTA's Stephen Reilly told The Business there is a "complaints or compensation process that members can apply to and we'll work through those on a case by case basis". You can watch the full interview with HESTA's chief operating officer Stephen Reilly on The Business tonight at 8:45pm AEST on ABC News or on iView.
ABC News
29-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Australian workers lose more than $4.7 billion a year in unpaid super — and the ATO rarely penalises employers
More than 80 per cent — several billion dollars annually — of unpaid superannuation goes unrecovered, and the authority in charge rarely penalises employers who do not pay it. Richard Aichinger says his son hasn't been paid superannuation for more than 12 months — and, despite reporting it to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) at the start of the year, it is still continuing. The 19-year-old, who is a second-year electrical apprentice, has approached his boss on numerous occasions, but hasn't received any clarity. "They just keep getting the answer that, 'Yeah, they'll be paying it soon'," his father says. Mr Aichinger, from New South Wales, says his son hasn't heard anything since he reported the issue to the ATO back in February. "He's very annoyed about it," he says. From July 1, the "superannuation guarantee" rate will increase from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent. That means an amount equivalent to 12 per cent of your ordinary earnings should be paid into your super fund by your employer. You can check if that's happening through the government's myGov service or directly through your super fund. Australia's retirement saving system is mandatory, and the funds controlled by the sector are set to surpass the UK and Canada within the next five to seven years to become the second-largest pool of retirement savings in the world, despite our small population. But that's only if the money gets there. Misha Schubert, from the super funds' peak body the Super Members Council, says the ATO hasn't been tough enough on dodgy employers. "The ATO needs to be a strong cop on the beat and really lift the bar on its compliance and recovery efforts, to ensure that Australian workers are getting paid the super they are legally owed," she says. The ATO recovered just 17 per cent of the $4.7 billion in unpaid super for 2020-21, the most recent available figures. "Every week in Australia, $100 million that is owed to workers in super does not make it into their super accounts," Ms Schubert adds. A 2024 report by the council calculates that 2.8 million people are failing to receive their full super entitlements each financial year, with the average underpayment per affected worker being $1,810. "The size and scale of that challenge is shocking, and there needs to be further uplift in the proactive efforts to recover that money for workers," Ms Schubert says. In 2020-21, the ATO issued 9,594 penalties for unpaid super. But only 4,124 (43 per cent) of them required the business to pay a penalty above remediation of the unpaid amount. That means for most businesses caught doing the wrong thing, the amount they paid was simply the money they should have paid workers before they got caught. A question at Senate Estimates revealed fewer than 1 per cent of those businesses copped the maximum 200 per cent penalty. In a statement, an ATO spokesperson said the issue is important. In its most recent data, the ATO says it received around 28,100 referrals about unpaid super from employees, and that 23,600 of those were finalised. This resulted in $659 million in super being paid, and $300 million in penalties. The figures don't say how much most employees got back, or what percentage of employers paid a penalty for their failings. The statement adds that 167,000 employers received reminders or "prompts" to pay unpaid super, and that raised $240 million. On June 6, Mr Aichinger sent an email to his local federal MP, Emma McBride, and also to Amanda Rishworth, the minister for employment and workplace relations, outlining the issues with his son's superannuation. Within a week he got a call from the ATO. "She acknowledged my son had done the complaint online, she said several other employees from the same business had also, and then I quizzed her about, 'Well, why isn't there any feedback or anyone responding back to my son?' Mr Aichinger said. "She said that they're not allowed to do that … because they haven't got the manpower to do it. Mr Aichinger says he was told the only time the ATO does respond is if it intends to negotiate a payment plan with the employer. "I said, 'Well when will you be doing something about my son's situation?' And she said it had been given a case number, but it hadn't been allocated yet." Mr Aichinger said the ATO representative wouldn't give "any sort of a timeline" on when the issue would be followed up or if there would be an investigation. The ATO says it cannot comment on the tax affairs of any individual due to its statutory confidentiality obligations. Mr Aichinger worries his son won't see the thousands of dollars he is owed in super. "I'm just really disappointed by that. If the ATO is the body who's given the job of policing that, then why are they seemingly under-resourced? "What happens if the company goes into administration or liquidation? That's $5,000 outstanding in my son's case. "I think it might be a problem that is quite widespread with some employers in the construction industry." The Australian National Audit Office looked at the issue of superannuation under-payment in 2022 and found the ATO had identified three "high-risk" industries: construction, accommodation and food services (often called hospitality), and retail. It called the ATO's activity in dealing with unpaid super "partly effective". In 2021 there were 220 ATO staff involved in "compliance activity" around super, most of them responding to complaints made by underpaid workers. "More specifically, 90 per cent were responding to employee notifications," it read. Currently, it's compulsory for employers to pay their staff superannuation at least every three months. But, if "payday super" kicks in from July next year, employers will have to deposit super every payday — that's if legislation is passed making it a legal requirement on employers. Payday super is as it sounds — your super being paid on the same day as your wages. Some employers already do this, but it's not a requirement. If the law changes, everyone will get their superannuation payments at the same time as their wages. The chief executive of superannuation clearing house Wrkr, Trent Lund, has just completed a pilot program with superannuation fund Rest in preparation for payday super. "It was important to test both the experiences and improvement, and actually [test if] it can really deal with the requirements," he says. Mr Lund says that under current regulations, some businesses are using money that would otherwise be set aside for staff super to smooth over cash flow problems. "It's gambling, because you're actually using working capital which is not yours — it's actually an employee's future super," he says. "But it's a pattern that builds over time. "The more you do it, and [the more] that becomes part of your cash flow workings, in your mind as a leader in a business, it starts to become normalised — and I think that's what we are really trying to change," he says. He believes payday super is designed to protect workers. "The frequency of pay is much faster, which means the errors will be detected earlier … so the risk to that employee is much, much less under payday super." JobWatch principal lawyer Gabrielle Marchetti would welcome payday super. She's been representing workers for decades, and has seen many miss out on superannuation. "We know that our callers and our clients are finding it very difficult to chase up super," she says. "They're very frustrated. They've lodged a notification with the ATO about unpaid super, and months have gone by without them receiving any kind of update. "People are very frustrated about not knowing where the investigation is at … if in fact the ATO is even investigating their matter." Those most affected are those most likely to be in vulnerable situations already, she says. "In JobWatch's experience, the industries typically that people are calling us about unpaid super would be hospitality, construction, retail and cleaning," she says. "They're often also being underpaid their wages and other entitlements — often very vulnerable clients, often from migrant backgrounds and employed by small businesses." Technology could play a part in reducing unpaid super. Single Touch Payroll, or STP, , sends employers' reporting information directly to government agencies. It was made mandatory in 2019 Before then, employees would get a "group certificate" from their employer at the end of the financial year which would list how much they had been paid, how much tax was withheld, and their superannuation payments. All of that information is now sent directly to the ATO, and is available year-round through services like myGov. That's helpful for employees (and accountants), but also to the entity in charge of making sure superannuation is paid correctly: the ATO. "It gives the ATO the real-time capability to make sure that workers are being paid their super on time and in full with every pay cycle," says Misha Schubert from the Super Members Council. "So those tools are there — they should be being used by the ATO. "And, if they're not, then the ATO needs to look at what uplift it can drive instantly to make that happen." The ATO says it is working with the technology. "We have invested in comprehensive data matching from employers and super funds to ensure employee entitlements are being paid, and use data matching and risk models to identify where employers may not be paying the correct amount of superannuation for their employees," the agency said in a statement. This isn't the first time Mr Aichinger has had to advocate for one of his kids. His eldest son is a fourth-year carpentry apprentice who also struggled with super payments when he started out in the industry. "His first employer didn't pay any superannuation in the first six months of his apprenticeship … and he left because of it, and reported it to the ATO." He says the ATO did nothing, and so he called the employer himself. For workers missing out on around $5 billion each year, advocates are hoping for a better way to get money back — particularly for people without persistent and convincing dads like Richard Aichinger.
ABC News
23-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
HESTA member couldn't access super for surgery due to fund outage, dozens report ongoing issues
Despite normal services resuming three weeks ago, dozens of HESTA superannuation members have contacted ABC News, distressed and frustrated they are still unable to access their own super funds. HESTA, one of Australia's largest super funds with more than 1 million members, went offline at the end of April for a seven-week planned outage, as the fund changed administration providers. Despite the outage ending at the start of June, members have reported that their applications to withdraw funds have still not been processed, while wait times on the phone can be up to three hours. Judy Flynn said she put in an application at the end of April to withdraw funds for a surgery. "I then sent an email saying, 'look, I have a medical appointment coming up, it's urgent, I've been waiting four months for this, can you please process this $2,000 for me?'" But she said she got no response from HESTA, and eventually needed to postpone her surgery, which was meant to be on the June 10. HESTA had told ABC News that members could "still receive urgent and critical payments" during the period of limited services. "I hadn't heard a thing, no response at all … and I tried to get through to them a couple of times on the phone and I couldn't get through without waiting for a long period. "It's very stressful … I'm really angry that they've done this to me," Ms Flynn said. Ms Flynn, who lives on the South Coast of New South Wales, said she recently separated from her husband and has had to borrow money from him to pay for things like utility bills and council rates. "He's been good about it, but he's in debt to loan me money. It's not like he has money stocked away, we're borrowing to get me out of this hot water." On Thursday last week, Ms Flynn was finally able to speak to someone at HESTA who processed her application, stating it should take three to five days to land in her account. On Sunday, she said HESTA notified her that the money had been transferred, about two months after her initial application was made. HESTA has apologised to Ms Flynn, stating its level of service was not acceptable. In a response to the ABC, a spokesperson for HESTA said: "While we resumed online services as scheduled and many members are transacting as normal, we recognise some members have experienced long call wait times and processing delays. Personal finance researcher at Griffith University Whitley Bejah said the extended period of time offline means HESTA has failed in its duty of care to customers. "Let's say someone's been waiting since the first week of the HESTA shutdown to be able to make this claim… now [it's] 10 weeks with no income. "I think that would be very, very stressful from a consumer's perspective." She doesn't think the super fund prepared properly for the influx of applications it would experience from members after the outage. "I understand that the process is really cumbersome and they want to make sure that they get everything right because there are obviously reporting issues … but given everything that people have been through, you think that they would be a little bit more prepared. Ms Bejah said the "additional delay" is causing unnecessary stress for many people right now. "Australians [are] dealing with a lot at the moment, especially with the cost of living, and I think when there's a barrier between people and accessing their own funds that they might need for medical considerations … or they might be dealing with severe financial hardship. "It's a compounding effect that's going to affect a whole range of things, not just finances." The spokesperson for HESTA said: "We have substantially increased the size of our contact centre team and operating hours have been extended to include temporary operation on Saturdays. Amanda Lewis recently went into a dementia ward at a nursing home in Victoria and has been relying on her superannuation to pay for it. Her husband Glynn has been acting as her carer because her short-term memory and some of her long-term memory have been affected by the disease. He said on May 22, he and his financial adviser put in an application to withdraw all of Ms Lewis's superannuation. But almost a month later, none of it has been processed into her account. "I'm sort of still in limbo … it is a little bit up in the air, hopefully HESTA come good with the finances," he told ABC News. "Hopefully we can get back to a better financial situation." While his financial advisor has lodged a complaint with HESTA, he has concerns that if he doesn't get access to the funds soon, he will have to use his own super to pay the deposit, or risk his wife losing her spot at the facility. The spokesperson for HESTA said: "We apologise to the member and her husband who have not received the service they should expect from us. HESTA isn't the first superannuation fund to have complaints raised against it this year. The spotlight was thrown on the sector in April, when AustralianSuper, Rest, Hostplus, Insignia and Australian Retirement Trust were impacted by a slew of cyber incidents. AustralianSuper was questioned by its own clients about a security weakness in its accounts, before cybercriminals stole hundreds of thousands of dollars of members' retirement savings. Customers told ABC News they had asked for multi-factor authentication (MFA) on their accounts but were rebuffed — one of them just weeks before the cyber attacks. Subsequently, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) wrote to all registrable superannuation entities earlier this month, reinforcing expectations around information security and the implementation of robust authentication controls. "This action follows recent credential stuffing attacks that exposed persistent weaknesses in authentication practices across the superannuation industry," the APRA statement read. The regulator has advised all super funds to ensure MFA or equivalent protections are in place for high-risk activities no later than August 31 this year. Separately, the corporate watchdog has called on super funds to overhaul the way they deal with death benefit claims, noting excessive delays, poor customer service and ineffective claims handling are leaving Australians worse off at some of the most vulnerable times of their lives, in a scathing report issued in March.
