ASIC has banned Gold Coast-based financial adviser Andrew Rankin from providing any financial services, controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business, and performing any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business for four years.
ASIC found Mr Rankin failed to act in the best interests of a number of his clients and gave inappropriate advice while authorised to provide financial advice by Next Generation Advice Pty Ltd (In Liquidation).
ASIC found Mr Rankin recommended clients set up an SMSF and invest most of their retirement savings into the Global Capital Property Fund Limited (in liquidation) (GCPF) and the Pivotal Diversified Fund (Pivotal).
In a review of the advice provided by Mr Rankin, ASIC found Mr Rankin failed to act in the best interests of a number of his clients as he failed to:
- identify the clients' objectives and needs by accepting a request to establish a SMSF and rollover their current superannuation into the new SMSF, investing the majority of their capital into GCPF and the Pivotal Diversified Fund
- identify the subject matter of advice, and
- conduct a reasonable investigation of the financial products that might meet their needs.
ASIC also found it was not reasonable to conclude the advice Mr Rankin gave was appropriate, had he satisfied the duty to act in the clients' best interests, because:
- GCPV and Pivotal were both speculative, illiquid investments with no historical return data
- the advice placed clients in more complex and onerous SMSF environments compared to their previous APRA regulated superannuation funds, and
- the advice resulted in significant fee increases.
Mr Rankin's statements of advice were also found to include projections that were misleading and deceptive.
Clients were referred to Mr Rankin after completing a 'superannuation health check' with another Authorised Representative of Next Generation Advice. ASIC found Mr Rankin reasonably ought to have known there was a conflict of interest and jeopardised client retirement savings by facilitating the transfer of most of their savings from APRA regulated funds to highly speculative and illiquid investments in a more complex and onerous SMSF environment.
The banning order took effect from 14 August 2025.
Mr Rankin has the right to appeal the decision to the Administrative Review Tribunal.
If you are a client of Next Generation Advice and have concerns about the conduct of your adviser or the advice you received, you should consider lodging a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). AFCA is the external dispute resolution scheme for financial complaints in Australia and must deal with complaints independently and fairly. AFCA's service is free for consumers.
AFCA can be contacted by:
- calling 1800 931 678 for free (9am - 5pm Melbourne time), or
- lodging a complaint online on AFCA's website.
AFCA will consider your complaint if it meets the eligibility criteria.
Important deadline: In cancelling Next Gen's licence, ASIC required Next Gen to remain a member of AFCA until 17 October 2025. If you intend to lodge a complaint with AFCA in relation to advice received from Next Gen, you should do so by 17 October 2025.
For more information see the following AFCA websites:
Background
Mr Rankin was an authorised representative of Next Generation Advice from 13 September 2021 to 11 November 2022.
On 20 June 2024, ASIC obtained interim orders from the Federal Court freezing the assets of GCPF (24-135MR).
In September 2024, ASIC applied to the Federal Court for orders to appoint provisional liquidators to GCPF and to wind-up GCPF. On 3 October 2024, the Federal Court made orders for GCPF to be wound up on just and equitable grounds, appointing Ross Blakely and Kelly-Anne Trenfield of FTI Consulting as liquidators (24-221MR).
The Pivotal Diversified Fund was an open-ended unlisted registered managed investment scheme that was open to retail investors. On 5 January 2023, ASIC issued an interim DDO Stop Order under s994J to Vasco Responsible Entity Services Limited which prevented it from dealing in Pivotal's interests in relation to retail clients, giving a PDS for Pivotal to a retail client, and providing financial product advice to a retail client in relation to an interest in the Pivotal Diversified Fund.
ASIC's investigation into the matters connected to GCPF and the Shield Master Fund is continuing.
The banning has been recorded on ASIC's publicly available Financial advisers register and the Banned and Disqualified register.
ASIC's MoneySmart website has useful information for consumers whose advisers have been banned: Problems with a financial adviser.
More information
- Super switching advice - complying with your obligations (INFO 182) provides general information and compliance tips for financial advisers who provide super switching advice. This information sheet also provides specific examples of inadequate conduct in some of those areas where we frequently encounter compliance issues.
- ASIC has issued a consumer alert warning amid increasing concerns that people are being enticed to invest their retirement savings into complex and risky schemes: 25-120MR Consumer alert. Be super smart, visit ASIC's Moneysmart campaign page.
