ASIC Finds Misleading Super Switching Lead Generation

A regulator review of 15 licensees found lead generators used fear-based claims and non like-for-like comparisons to move superannuation.

Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in Financial Crime

ASIC Finds Misleading Super Switching Lead Generation

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Would you trust a salesperson urging you to switch your super fund?

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission released a review finding misleading lead generation practices in superannuation switching. The review follows the collapse of Shield and First Guardian, which left 12,000 investors with a combined $1 billion loss.

Why it matters

Lead generators referred more than 7600 customers to licensees between January 2025 and June 2026, and targets invested about $678 million, with more than 90 per cent of those funds coming through superannuation. The findings point to gaps in controls over who is referring people to super switching and how those referrals are made.

The review examined 15 licensees and found five lacked controls prohibiting high-risk super switching while four operated businesses with high-risk features. The extraction does not specify any charges, court dates or enforcement action against the licensees named in the review.

The players

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

ASIC is Australia's national corporate, markets and financial services regulator, responsible for licensing financial services providers and enforcing consumer protection rules.

The details

Lead generators approached people and referred them to licensees for superannuation switching, and some licensees used unlicensed or unqualified lead generators. The review found these generators used potentially misleading statements, fear-based claims and non like-for-like comparisons to persuade investors to review their superannuation arrangements.

January 2025 to June 2026: Period in which more than 7600 customers were gained through lead generation.
8 November 2026: ASIC published the review.

Legal Context

The review follows the collapse of Shield and First Guardian, which left 12,000 investors with a combined $1 billion loss. It examines the referral practices that channelled investors toward superannuation switching in the period that preceded that collapse.

Australians with superannuation who have been approached to switch funds should review any referral and the comparisons used to justify it. The review's findings highlight that fear-based claims and non like-for-like comparisons were used to prompt these switches.

The takeaway

Before switching superannuation, compare products on a like-for-like basis and be cautious of urgent or fear-based pitches from unlicensed or unqualified lead generators. Check whether the licensee has controls prohibiting high-risk super switching.