The government has opened a consultation on the information that managed investments schemes (MIS) should provide in an effort to improve the regulatory oversight of the sector.
The move was announced by Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino, alongside the release of a consultation paper on data transparency in MIS and some proposals for change, noting the sector now accounts for approximately $3 trillion in registered and unregistered schemes.
“High‑quality and timely data is critical to ensuring regulators can identify emerging risks, support investor confidence and help maintain the integrity of Australia’s financial markets. The consultation paper seeks feedback on proposals to address data gaps that have emerged as the sector has grown and evolved,” Mulino said.
Treasury added existing data arrangements for the sector are spread across government agencies, is incomplete, and sometimes duplicated, and the primary focus of the reforms put forward was to improve regulatory visibility of the MIS sector.
The paper outlined three broad proposals including enhancing the information collected when a MIS is registered; introducing a recurring data collection for registered schemes; and improving the visibility of the unregistered MIS sector which is not subject to the same level of data collection.
“This consultation is focused on addressing immediate and demonstrated information gaps that limit regulatory visibility, with a view to supporting more effective supervision and reducing the risk of consumer harm,” the paper stated.
Pointing to the failures of the First Guardian and Shield master funds, in which around $1 billion of retirement savings were invested, Treasury emphasised the significant financial and non-financial harm that can be caused by the collapses of MIS.
“Large MIS failures like First Guardian and Shield can place additional pressure on Australia’s pension system, have broader impacts across industry and undermine wider consumer confidence in the Australian financial system,” Treasury stated in the consultation paper.
Submissions and stakeholder feedback on the costs, benefits and implementation considerations associated with the changes close on 23 October 2026.
