The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned Sydney based financial adviser Matthew Simon Bradley for eight years and Queensland-based former financial planner Isaac Jacob McQueen for four years in relation to their involvement with the Shield Master Trust.
The pair will be prevented from providing financial services, controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business or performing any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business for the duration of their bans.
McQueen was authorised by MWL Financial Services Pty Ltd from 31 October 2022 to 9 June 2023 and Bradley was an authorised representative of the same licensee from 11 October 2017 to 27 December 2021 and from 28 March 2022.
The bans are based on inappropriate advice the pair gave to certain clients to have them invest most of their superannuation into the high-risk High Growth class or the Growth class of the Shield Master Fund.
Bradley also recommended some clients move their super into the Balanced option which was a medium-high risk investment. The advice was deemed not to be in the best interests of those clients.
ASIC also found Bradley’s statements of advice to certain clients included false and misleading material including projection tables and superannuation information that did not have reasonable grounds and implied it would be advantageous for clients to be invested in the Shield Master Trust.
The Shield Master Trust has had new offers of investments halted since February last year when ASIC issued interim stop orders on four product disclosure statements for the investment vehicle.
The regulator then sought orders in June 2024 to preserve the assets of the scheme so they may be recovered, to the extent available, for the benefit of investors while its investigation was continuing.
ASIC’s concerns with Shield and its responsible entity Keystone Group centre around telemarketing recommendations for investors to invest in the Shield Master Trust regardless of their individual circumstances or their best financial interests.
The banning of the pair follows the cancellation of the Australian financial services licence of Financial Services Group Australia (FSGA) and the permanent banning of its responsible manager, Graham Holmes, for their links to the Shield Master Fund last month.
The action was taken after it was found authorised representatives of FSGA provided personal financial product advice to consumers who invested in the Shield Master Trust and First Guardian Master Fund.
ASIC understands more than $480 million has been invested in the Shield Master Trust since February 2022 and the industry is concerned that, once the regulator’s investigation is complete, the associated losses will significantly add to adviser costs for the Compensation Scheme of Last Report.
