Is Your Super Really Safe?

Jason · 00:00Welcome to episode 255 over the numbers game. I'm Jace, I'm here with Nick and Marty. Nick, what's happening mate? It's

Nick · 00:08uh, it's sad, really? And, um, oh, I'm not being sarcastic here. I'm, I'm actually being ous. Yeah. You had a look on your face. A big smile on my face.

Jason · 00:16No.

Nick · 00:17Um, Marty, imagine working all your life, you know, which you have good Croatian boys started.

Nick · 00:23The milk bar very early, put all your money into super, get very close to retirement. You, you go and see what you think is a reputable financial planner. And then one day you log on and you see that your super was 700,000. It is now zero. Your mid sixties. You need to keep working because you had all of your retirement savings in that super fund.

Nick · 00:46Uh, how would you feel? Well, I'm 53 to start with. Oh shit. Sorry. Sorry.

Marty · 00:52Don't just bloody run me straight off. Um, well, they'd be hell to pay, but I wouldn't know where to, where to angle that Hell 'cause uh, yeah, you'd be devastated given how much time you've, uh, spent trying to get, you know, get your retirement sorted.

Marty · 01:08I'd be absolutely pissed. Yeah.

Jason · 01:10I think there's some somewhat, almost sounds like a far-fetched story in it. 'cause I isn't isn't super safe. No. Whatcha you telling me this?

Nick · 01:17It's super safe. Not Jake. Nothing is safe. You know that. And this, this is a true story. So at the moment, um, there's, there's a lot of news floating around, around the first, uh, guardian master fund, which is, uh, an investment fund that's, uh, that's gone belly up basically.

Nick · 01:34It's estimated that 12,000, uh, Australians have lost, um, possibly around $1.2 billion in super. And, and we're talking, uh, the stories I've seen, you know, people very close to retirement. Um, you know, age 65, possibly 70 in some cases, and then you go back to work. So it's a, it's, it's, it's a really bad story and, um, shocking story.

Nick · 02:00But what I wanted to do today was just unpack what actually happened because you know, there's a lot of jargon getting around, um, financial planning words, and people might be thinking, well, first guardian, uh, trustee platform, um, super government, what's actually gone on here. Um, so I wanted to unpack that and just explain to people how.

Nick · 02:20Financial planning industry works and what would happen, um, if you did go to a financial planner, how would your money be invested and possibly what to look out for. But, um, Jayce, you f are you familiar with the story at all?

Jason · 02:33Look, I, I've seen the articles pop up, but you know, it's still begs disbelief in a sense that, you know, in, in this world where super is, is meant to be our retirement nest egg, it should feel safe.

Jason · 02:45You squirrel it away, we can't touch it, and if we can't touch it. Like, it makes me just go, how can 1.2 billion be wiped and disappear? And, and you know, nobody's really accountable. And you know, then even then the questions are going well, should, should the government retop everyone back up? Because, you know, these, these everyday Aussies that are trying to retire have got no money now.

Jason · 03:05Like, how are they made to live? So, yeah. My, my brain is, uh, spinning. It makes me feel a bit sick actually. So how did it happen? Is that what your question is? Yep. How does, how does this happen? You know, surely there's, you know, there's, there's systems and checks and things in place that stop things from being mismanaged like this.

Nick · 03:20Firstly, I'll just explain how it works if you, um, generally if you're seeing a financial planner, um, but we are obviously a financial planning business. So as a financial planner we have access to what's called a platform. Um, so a platform, uh, we use Macquarie Bank, we use Colonial First State. Netwealth is a big one, and Netwealth is one of the ones in question.

Nick · 03:41And what happens with that platform is they give you access to different, um, investment funds. So any given platform might have, I don't know, anywhere from a hundred to possibly 300 investment funds that sit on that platform that a financial planner can, can use and put people's money into. So Jason, if you came to me, I might have you on, I think you are on the Colonial First State platform.

Nick · 04:06Certainly am. And you might be in eight different, um, funds that sit on that platform. Yep. Make sense? Yep. So that, that platform provider, in your case, colonial, first State, Macquarie, whoever it might be, um, they, they bring these funds onto their panel and they approve them through, you know, certain checks and balances and, and and whatnot.

Nick · 04:27And that's what part of their, what part of their offering is or their role is. So what's happened in this case? Um. Let's talk about the platform first, but platforms, uh, equity trustees, um, Netwealth and, and Macquarie are the names that are popping up. They had on their, they had on their platform, um, the first Guardian master fund.

Nick · 04:49Mm-hmm. So, J you come to me, I use Macquarie, I go, I'm gonna put you into the first Guardian master fund. Return Look returns look good. Now, as a client or a consumer, you'd be pretty okay with that. You've gone to what you think's a reputable PLA planner, they put you on the Macquarie platform. So in a lot of cases people will say, oh, my super's with Macquarie, but it's actually not.

Nick · 05:09Macquarie's the platform. Yep. So in this case, um, the first Guardian master fund sat on that platform. So a lot of people, um, from, well, many planners, but there was a, there's a, there's a couple that are under the spotlight. Um, were pushed into that fund via the platform. Everything's rosy, happy days. What has happened is that that fund, um, which is again, the first guardian master fund wasn't being run correctly.

Nick · 05:35It was being basically run as a pon Ponzi scheme. That's what we know so far. So the funds weren't getting invested like they were meant to be. So if you read a, uh, PDS, it'll, it'll tell you, um, how the funds are invested within that fund. Um, what was happening is the. The directors inside that fund are the people running the fund?

Nick · 05:55Uh, were using the money for personal use. Just to rattle a few things off. Lamborghini keeps getting mentioned, but that is such a small amount. Um, you know, obviously they, they went and caught up with one of the, uh, directors and he had a Lamborghini, I guess so, but that's not where, that's, it's, um, that's not where most of the money's gone.

Nick · 06:13$240 million went to offshore investments. $69 million went to related entities of the people running the fund. And I think property development was a big one. They'd taken people's money and gone into property development. Wow. And what they were doing to pay people's returns, and this is the definition of a Ponzi scheme, they weren't investing the money like they said they were.

Nick · 06:36Jsu, put your money in because you've just signed up to the fund. Your money is then paying Marty's returns, or Marty needs to access his money. So this goes around, it's all, it's exactly what Bernie Madoff did, anyone who's familiar with that story. Um, so this is what was happening. And then what hap what has then happened is the first guardian master fund has gone into liquidation because no money spent in the wrong ways.

Nick · 07:00People's super fund's gone to zero. So that's basically what has happened in a nutshell. Um, as far as the fund, uh, going to liquidation and people losing their money. What is also come, so the fir, well go back a step. So what's under the spotlight is how was that fund, um, allowed on those platforms and what kind of checks and balances were being made.

Nick · 07:21So that's, that's the first big issue. I. The other big issue that's come to light is how, um, everyday Australians were actually getting put into this fund. Now there was a particular business, um, I won't mention names because, um, there's still a bit, a bit of water to go under the bridge, but there was a, there was a particular business that was telemarketing.

Nick · 07:42So telemarketing means I've got a big database of, um, people's phone numbers. I'm going to ring them. I'm going to telemarket or try and, um, create a lead outta that phone call, uh, for superannuation. I'm then going to bring that person into my business and I'm going to put them in a particular product, into a particular product.

Nick · 08:02So there was a business that was doing a lot of this, and what has come to light is that. That ma, that first guardian master fund was actually paying this financial planning business fees to, to market or to, um, telemarket and then put people into their fund. Now that's, that's, that's a no-no. So as a financial planner, the only fees we can take from a client, we charge a client a fee.

Nick · 08:27Chase, you're a client of ours, you would know every year you sign off on that fee. There's no, there's no under the table stuff. So what they've worked out was the first Guardian master fund was paying this financial planning business money to spend money on Google AdWords and drive lead flow into their business.

Nick · 08:43Um, and they were then promoting, you know, over, over. You know, over market or over average returns and whatnot. So you could be just sitting at home, uh, like a lot of people in this age bracket, uh, they've either in retirement or close to retirement, uh, um, they get a phone call. They get sold to basically, it then goes into a financial planning business, which was like a conveyor belt.

Nick · 09:04Numerous different people involved in the process. And this particular business, their volumes just shut up because they were obviously had. A big advertising spend was like a conveyor belt, and they were promising over the, um, over market return. So that is basically what has happened in a nutshell. And, uh, ASIC are now looking heavily into that particular financial planning businesses.

Nick · 09:28A lot of advisors, um, that have lost their ability to advise and their license, um, they're looking into the trust that they're obviously looking in the, um, the, the directors of the Guardian master fund, uh, but they're also looking into those platforms. And what are, what checks and balances did those platforms do to have them on there in the first place and allow advisors to have access to them?

Nick · 09:50Mm. So it definitely opens a can of worms because these are everyday platforms and a lot of funds on these platforms, a good funds, um, this one has, has, has slipped through the guard. So, um. It's pretty bad. The, the problem at the moment is the first guardian master fund. There's no money there. So as far as getting money back to the people that have lost it, the only way the government does that is they're, they're looking at suing the trustee, uh, suing the platforms and trying to get money back that

Jason · 10:23way.

Jason · 10:23Does that mean Macquarie foot the bill as an example?

Nick · 10:26Well, yeah. Equity trustees, Netwealth, Macquarie. Yep. So they would pay some money. The, the, this what makes me irate as a financial planner or I've got a financial planning business, um, we have to contribute annually to a compensation fund that's there for people that need to be constant compensated, um, from people doing the wrong thing in our industry.

Nick · 10:48So there's a maximum of 150,000. So every year we get a levy. Whether we've done wrong or not. Every year we've got a levy that we've gotta contribute to that basically is a pool of money ready there to compensate people. So as a financial planning business, our levy, I think, is about to go up considerably, um, because there's gonna be a lot of money involved here.

Nick · 11:06And the reality is that just then goes back to our clients because we, for us to run a successful business, we need to charge fees. So if our levies go up, we wanna keep our doors open, the fees, um, for clients have to go up. So. Yeah, it's a, it's, it's, it's a really, um, sad, sad story. And, you know, I really do feel for the, uh, the individuals that have lost the money.

Nick · 11:31Um, as financial planners, we understand the. Um, the role we play in helping people sleep at night and protecting their money. So to wake up one day and log on and see a zero balance is really, for me, hard to even comprehend or understand. Um, but I just wanted to to explain what exactly happened. And then also what, what, what I will touch on, I'll, I'll throw to you guys first, but is just what to look out for.

Nick · 11:59How can you, you know, nothing is a hundred percent safe. There's a lot of people saying that, um, you know, I've thought super was government guaranteed, but it's not at all. It's got nothing to do, um, with the government guaranteeing any of your funds. So, um, I wanna just go through a couple of flags that people could look out for, um, to make sure they're not in this situation.

Nick · 12:20Um. But yeah. Have I covered the story? It all make sense?

Marty · 12:24Oh, it's, it's a, yeah. Brilliant cover, Nick. 'cause like you said, you hear it on news, but you don't get the, the full story, like you understand the end impact. But, um, just to have it broken down like that is, is like straight away. I go, well, how can we guarantee our safety?

Marty · 12:43You can't, you know, it's like, so there's gotta be a lot of work done to reestablish trust and that, that's it. There's, there's so many questions on this, but, uh, yeah, but well explained.

Jason · 12:54I'm still gobsmacked that, how, how many industries can you work in where you cop levy that goes into a fund to then reimburse people when somebody else does the wrong thing like that?

Jason · 13:04That's

Nick · 13:05worse. Both of our industries, mate, we cop one in the mortgage business as well. Um. So it's called the Compensate Compensation Scheme of Last Resort. And the, the industry collectively has to contribute to that. Uh, and it's going up considerably. We've got a diminishing amount of advisors for reasons such as that.

Nick · 13:22It's getting, it's getting harder and harder. Uh, but we, we have one in the mortgage business as well, so there's, there's two sets of fees we get every year. Crazy red flags. Marty, what's the first red flag for you? There's anything there that I mentioned you went, oh, well, probably wouldn't have done that.

Marty · 13:38Def definitely the nil balance had me, but, um, apart from that, if something wasn't stacking up, I, I think, or communication was off or something. Something that was structured that was happening consistently and it fell away in some way, shape or form. But apart from that, I don't know.

Nick · 13:57Oh, I'll give you a really simple one.

Marty · 13:58Yep.

Nick · 13:59Never, never go in and take advice or follow a process that has started from a cold call.

Marty · 14:07Mm-hmm.

Nick · 14:09Never do that because if. If you look at all of the industries, the cold call, there's, it's generally, uh, where there's opportunity. So it might be a government back scheme, like, um, the, like, so like the bats, you know, what's a, um, the, yeah, in the installation, bats installation.

Jason · 14:26Then you got the light LED, light changing and

Nick · 14:29yeah, so people see an opportunity and they see, okay, there's a big pool of money here to come in. I've then gotta find lead flow. Really quickly, how do I do that? I tell him market. I spend money on Google AdWords. I, I do all this kind of stuff where I spend money to try and track mass, um, people.

Nick · 14:48So if you are, and it's not just cold calling cold calling's, old school now, it's also you are online. If you're searching online, be very, very wary of, um, following a process that's, that sucks you in in some way, whether it be higher returns. Um, if you need to see a financial planner, the first thing you should do.

Nick · 15:10You should go to your, your own network or your own centers of influence. So go to your accountant, go to your mortgage broker, go to your family and friends, or go to your, your circle, um, your, your colleagues, whoever it is, and say, Hey, anyone who you have heard is a good financial planner. Have you dealt with them personally?

Nick · 15:30That to me, is the best thing you can do when you're trying to source a financial platter. Do not go online. Do not. Take a phone call from someone and then follow a process. Go to people you know and trust because then you'll, you'll, um, you'll be referred to someone who's they've already dealt with in most cases, and whether they've been dealing with them for a long time or a short time.

Nick · 15:52So that's probably the first red flag I would say. Be very wary. Um, when you're on the internet, Google searching or if your phone rings and someone tries to tell you your super is underperforming over the phone. That's the first red flag I would say. Josh, you're nodding your head.

Jason · 16:07Yep. Yeah, big one. I mean, it is just, I hate cold calls like so, you know, but, but I think there's a different generation out there where our parents, um, or our parents', parents don't, you know, they get a call and, and maybe that, that becomes an opportunity like, oh, I didn't know that.

Jason · 16:20And then they, you know, get sucked in and start listening and next thing it's logging in and passwords and getting scams and, yeah. So, yeah. Yep. Big red flag.

Marty · 16:29I, I, I'm, I'm really concerned too with AI in regards to, um, a mate was telling me about he got caught up in some sort of Twitter scam in regards to his, uh, his savings that was recommending a platform and lost about 40%.

Marty · 16:46So what he was searching in things like GR and searching on chat GPT, I think it was GR actually. But, um, then all of a sudden he was getting adverts and stories linked to his search mechanisms. And then he got sucked into something. Mm-hmm. And he's a pretty sophisticated type type of guy. And um, like so we talk about cold calling, but we are being cold called every micro minute based on our search and our interests.

Marty · 17:11And that is scary. Yeah. For the everyday person.

Nick · 17:14So that's the first thing that I would say. Second thing is, if you are unsure at all. Um, or you're pretty sure, but you're not quite sure. Go and see people face to face. I think it's one of the best things you can do is trust your gut. When you are in front of people, you can generally get a sense as to whether or not you would trust 'em.

Nick · 17:34Now there's no science behind that. It just, it just is what it is. And you know, I say this and I'm very mindful that some of our clients, we've never met some of our clients there, you know, it's, um, through Teams or Zoom, but most of our clients come through people like Chase. There's a, there's a connection already.

Nick · 17:50Um. But if you're on, if you're online and there's no, you don't know anyone else who knows these people, the second thing I think you should do is go in and go in for a meeting and sit across from that particular advisor and just get a feel. You will know if something's off or not. In most cases, have a look at the environment they work in.

Nick · 18:09Is it a nice environment? Is there other people in the business? Is it a good vibe? All these things will give you the, you know, the, the, your gut feel as to whether or not this is the right decision. That's another, um, again, no science behind it, but it's something that can really, um, point you in the right direction.

Nick · 18:27In my opinion. It's not, um, it's not foolproof, but I think it can, um, it, it can play a major role. The third thing I'd say, um, is. If there's a lot of people in the process, um, that to me is also a red flag, as in before you've actually got to the advisor. So in, in our business, the advisor will meet. We have a lot of people that support the process, but they're administration people that help the implementation.

Nick · 18:55The advisor is with the client from start to finish. And in this particular business, there was two or three people. Across the file, someone was doing the initial pitch. So whoever was on the, um, the telephone doing the pitch, they weren't even a financial planner. They were a telemarketer. That would've been, and I can tell you how it would've worked.

Nick · 19:12They would've been paid per lead that came across. So there, the only, only job they had to do was get your name across to that next person in the um. Ne next person in the cycle. So you sh if you are with a financial planning business, 99.9% of the times, the first meeting you have will be with the financial planner and they'll be with you from start to finish.

Nick · 19:36So that's another red flag. There's a couple of people involved. Someone's trying to pitch the idea to you, then someone's collecting your data and then you're going over here. Who have you really got that relationship with? 'cause that just means you're in a business that's got a, uh, a process that's trying to do mass, mass volume, and in most cases, mass volume comes with other, um, other red flags you should be looking out for.

Nick · 19:59Yeah.

Jason · 19:59So mo moving someone through the process and the steps rather than being with them and taking them on a journey and a partnership,

Nick · 20:06well, a partnership. I think what, um, and look, the financial planning business, uh, industry has come a long way. And now it's about holistic advice. So, you know, we've done some recent, um, we've done some recent episodes on investing, and 90% of the value that we add is not the investments.

Nick · 20:24The investments is actually the easy piece for us because now there's good managed funds, there's ETFs where you can get a market return. Most of the value we add is. Marty, what does the next five years look like for you? Do you wanna send Charlie to private school? Um, have you gotta look after older parents?

Nick · 20:41Um, all these things, that's where we add value. Just helping people tick off their personal goals. Very human.

Jason · 20:48Very human in this AI and technology focused world. That's a very human element.

Nick · 20:53What I can almost guarantee you with this particular financial planning business that was putting these people into this product was the whole pitch would've been around superannuation returns.

Nick · 21:02It wouldn't been, it wouldn't have been a a case of, Hey, tell me about what the next five to 10 years looks like for you. The whole pitch would've been, we'll get you above market returns. And Is that another red flag?

Jason · 21:13That's, yeah, I was about to say that sounds like a pretty big flag there, Nico.

Nick · 21:16Yep. So it's just, it sounds like, it sounds simple, but you know when, when you're at home and the phone rings and you know, you, you want to do the best you can with inside of your super.

Nick · 21:28Um. You're probably susceptible to listening to these people. And these people are good at what they do. These telemarketing people, they're not financial planners. And these, uh, they're people that create Google AdWords. They know what they're doing. They know the hooks, they know how the, the human mind works.

Nick · 21:45So even if you think, you know, and you think you're aware of the red flags, there's every chance they'll find a way around that 'cause they know how to do it. Um, so they're the three big, three big things for me. Make sure that, you know, if you get there through the internet or it's the cold call, uh, it's generally someone trying to sell to you.

Nick · 22:05Look for someone who's already got a relationship with that individual advisor, whether it's, um, your accountant, whether it's a friend of yours, family, someone who's been through the process and has, has experience with them over the long term. Do your best to get in front of these people. Go and look at the environment they work in.

Nick · 22:22Does it look like it's been there for a long time? Does everyone seem happy in there? What's the culture like? Um, that can, that can go a long way to eliminating the risk. Um, but you cannot eliminate the risk. Super is not government guaranteed. This money's invested in markets, in funds. Um. So you need to, you know, dot your i's and cross your T's when you're investing your money with someone.

Marty · 22:45Where do you stand, Nick, as a planner? Like let's say you, you did put someone into that fund 'cause it met the criteria of their goals and the plan. What's, what's your obligation then as a planner? Let's say you did put someone in there. What, what happens to the planner in that situation?

Nick · 23:01This is one of the big issues at the moment because the, there's a particular planner that, um, that ran the business in question.

Nick · 23:08Uh, his argument is, well, we're reliant on, uh, our licensee and the, the trustee providers, oh, sorry, the platform providers to do these checks and balances. Um, so I can only imagine that there's a number of planners that have put people into this fund completely unaware. Of the risks attached because they were being, uh, presented a different story.

Nick · 23:35I don't feel sorry for this particular planner because he was taking marketing money that's like that, that to me is a reg A, it's criminal red flag for him. You just cannot do it. And we're, we're talking millions, like I think the figure was 19 million that went to his business to market. So, but I've got no doubt there's, there's legitimate planners who have put people into this money, uh, into, into this fund.

Nick · 23:59Purely thinking they were doing the right thing. Now the other thing is too, and this is something that hasn't been spoken about, but if you had a hundred percent of your money in that fund, in most cases, that's not the, most planners wouldn't do that. Your money would be diversified across numerous different funds.

Nick · 24:17Even if that fund had diversification in front of it. A lot of the times you won't be in one fund. So these people were all in one fund as well. But as a planner, you know, and I, and I don't want to, um. Not trying to protect the planning industry here, but there is only so much you can do. Um, you know, you like for, so our business, we have a licensee, so we're under center point of license, uh, center Point Alliance, who's our licensee.

Nick · 24:43So we have to, um, pay them a fee every year. And you know, they, um, they make sure we do the right thing basically. And then CenterPoint Alliance, they have what they call an approved product list. So on that approved product list will be all different platform platform providers. So we. Our business Innovate cannot go beyond Centrepoint Alliance, um, their approved product list.

Nick · 25:07So there's a couple of, you know, there's a couple of layers where you think, well, if it's on the, uh, approved product list, I should be fine to go into that fund. Um, so the question is, how did First Guardian Master Fund get onto those approved product lists in the first place? So there's a few, there's a few, um, a few issues here.

Nick · 25:28Negligence, whatever it might be. Um. Yeah. But yeah, it's, as a planner, I, yeah, maybe you did it may, like how, how much can you check? You can't, you can't follow around the director and understand how they're spending that money, if they're giving, if they're reporting returns, um, that are not necessarily factual.

Marty · 25:48Geez, you'd think where there's smoke, there's fire. Like if they're on the platform, someone would be doing their due due diligence in regards to each fund and, and, and, and auditing it. You, you know, you'd think so, but

Nick · 26:00Well, asic are under fire here, mate, because ASIC's, the regulator here. Yeah. And what has, uh, what, what what has come out in the wash is asic were warned about this, um, in 2022, I think.

Nick · 26:12Um, so a few years ago and didn't act on it. Uh, for unbeknown reasons, uh, yet no doubt that'll all come out in the wash. Uh, but as a reg regulator, ASIC has a lot to answer for. Has a lot to answer for, um, because they regulate the industry and there's an issue. So you have to go to the regulator and say, well, what checks and balances have you got in place?

Nick · 26:32And if there's evidence that you were warned about this in 2022 and didn't act on it, that is a real problem. And particularly for me as a planner, I get really angry about it because I'm contributing money to ASIC to protect against this stuff. Yeah. Now I'm gonna have to contribute more, uh, because of incompetence.

Nick · 26:51So it's, you know, it's as, as sad as it is for these individuals, it makes me super angry as well, um, that were in this industry and the regulators. Trustees of, um, platforms and whatnot can, um, uh, trustees and platforms can, can, can let it go this way.

Marty · 27:11It's, um, great advice on the red flags too, Nick. I think, you know, in this day and age, more than ever, we've just gotta be on our toes.

Marty · 27:18Everyone's quick to wanna take your money. Um, and again, you gotta do your own checks, have your own boundaries around it, ask the right questions, and like you said, get to know what the integrity play is of who you're dealing with. It's, um, yeah. It's so vibe, but I just, I just, I feel sad for everyone. I feel sad for the people who lost the money.

Marty · 27:37They've worked all their lives to accomplish it. I, I just can't imagine how they would feel like I, I just, you just can't even, yeah. And then I would think of the planners that are trying to do the right thing that have been misrepresented by, you know, asic not doing their job. It, it's like, and again, how do you now.

Marty · 27:56Build confidence around it. You know, I know it's a one off, but

Nick · 28:00there's, I I should mention too, there's three funds. It's not just First Guardian, so it's First Guardian Shield Master and the Australian, uh, fi fiduciary Australian fiduciaries that are all tied up in this. And same issues. A dozen issues.

Nick · 28:12Issues. Same issues. Same issues across the board. Yeah. And it's not just, um. It's not just the, the, the asset levy that we've gotta pay. It's, it's the phone calls we get from our existing clients that go, Hey, is everything okay here? 'cause we use Macquarie as a platform.

Marty · 28:29Yeah.

Nick · 28:29Um, and Macquarie Bank, they're one of the biggest, you know, biggest investment groups in the world.

Nick · 28:34So it creates a lot of work for us. That's unnecessary work because now we've got a, um, and not just us all planners might be getting calls from 20% of their client base questioning what they're doing, you know, so it's more work, um, without, without any revenue attached. And it just makes it harder and harder to be a financial planner.

Nick · 28:56So, yeah. You know, I think there's obviously a lot of media floating around, but with inside the industry, there's a lot of anger. There's a lot of anger, um, about how this is all. Panned out. So,

Jason · 29:08uh, just a quick one, Nick. Uh, I just logged into my Colonial First Aid account for the first time, 'cause obviously got an advisor and, you know, deal with yourself and, uh, Macy at Innovate.

Jason · 29:18Um, it, it looked like there was an option for me to go and move my money around if I wanted to. Within that. Like, is that something that I have full control, like I have control over to be able to do myself? And I don't know if I wanna be trusted to do that.

Nick · 29:29Um, so if you're a, uh, I wouldn't think you could.

Nick · 29:33I think you'd have to come by us, but could, yeah, Dave, if you're a retail funder and industry fund these days, um, you can choose how your money's invested yourself, no problem. Um, Australian Super. I know for a fact you can go on there and just change your funds around. Um, and it's, you know, within reason, like yeah.

Nick · 29:49Okay. The thing with industry funds is they won't have 200. Fund provi, um, funds on the platform. They'll only have, um, a handful. Um, but yeah, you can do that now. Yeah, just one, but you can't choose. You can't choose the far, like as in, uh, colonial First State. If you're with them direct, there's a certain amount of funds on the panel.

Nick · 30:11You don't have a, you can choose which ones you go into, but you can't choose who's on the panel. And that's the big issue here. Yeah. Okay. How, how do they get on the panel? Yeah.

Jason · 30:18Yeah. Oh, cool. Yes. 'cause I, you know, just when, when you, when you said this, I looked at a few other things that popped up around, you know, Australian Super.

Jason · 30:24There was a few members that lost 500,000 across four different accounts. Um, that was around, I think it was credential stuffing. You know, somebody got their, their logins and passwords and were able to, to move their money around. Then you, you know, you, you ripped on a few examples of the A FL First Guardian Shield Master Fund, you know, again, so.

Jason · 30:43Well, at the start of the episode I said, you know, isn't super safe. And, and I think there is that, not a misconception, but you know, we, we get told that the, you know, this super is put away. We can't touch it. It's there for our retirement. But there's a ch you know, even if it's a small chance, if something goes wrong.

Jason · 30:58It can, it can actually go really wrong. So I think once again, one of the messages we always share here around is education. You know that wealth is, you know, knowledge is wealth and power, you know, to understand where your money is invested. And if you don't understand this, you know, it's never too late to take an interest in it now.

Jason · 31:15And I think if anything, even earlier on, if you're in your thirties or your twenties, um, and you think, oh, super, you know, what's the point? Getting involved now just sets you up for that financial success long term to take an interest. Partner up with an advisor and invest in a way that actually gets you excited about where your money is and what it's doing.

Jason · 31:32So, yep. Yeah, appreciate the, uh, the warning and the, the red flags. Nick, I think it's a valuable lesson for, for our audience out there and, um, appreciate you tuning in. If you are new to the show, click subscribe. Click follow on Spotify or Apple if you're here on YouTube. Thanks for joining us and, and looking at our faces.

Jason · 31:49Uh, until next time, protect your money. Protect yourself. Get the

Marty · 31:52right guidance game over.

Jason · 31:56This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. The conversations are of general nature and do not qualify as financial or tax advice. We recommend before you make any financial decisions, you consult a licensed professional.

Jason · 32:08Individuals on the podcast may hold positions in the company's discussed. ---