ASIC has commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against Diversa Trustees Limited, alleging failures concerning the First Guardian Master Fund.
Around $300 million was invested into First Guardian from 2020 to 2024 through superannuation funds for which Diversa was trustee.
ASIC alleges Diversa failed to conduct adequate due diligence before allowing its members to invest and failed to conduct adequate ongoing monitoring. Further, ASIC alleges that Diversa failed to enforce a 50% holding limit it imposed for First Guardian and failed to have systems and processes in place to ensure that there was compliance with that holding limit.
ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, 'This is another significant action relating to the First Guardian collapse which is an ongoing enforcement priority for 2026.'
'Superannuation trustees must put their members first by acting with care and skill and by carrying out proper checks on investment options made available on their platforms,' the Deputy Chair said.
ASIC alleges that Diversa failed to:
- exercise the same degree of care, skill and diligence as a prudent superannuation trustee would
- act in the best financial interests of its members
- exercise due diligence in developing, offering and reviewing investment options
- do all things necessary to ensure the financial services covered by its Australian financial services licence were provided efficiently, honestly and fairly.
'This action furthers ASIC's commitment to seek compensation for the victims of the Shield and First Guardian collapses wherever possible. Our first priority has been preserving assets for the benefit of investors to the extent they are available, and now we're taking action to hold those we consider responsible to account with 11 cases underway in the Federal Court against 19 defendants,' the Deputy Chair said.
ASIC is seeking orders for compensation, declarations and civil penalties from the Court.
ASIC and APRA continue to work closely together to hold trustees of relevant regulated super funds to account consistent with ASIC and APRA's respective mandates and legal processes.
Background
ASIC alleges Diversa contravened s52 and s54B of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) and s912A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
Diversa is the trustee of a number of APRA regulated superannuation funds. At different times between July 2020 to July 2024, Diversa was the trustee for the Powerwrap Master Plan, Praemium SMA Superannuation Fund, YourChoice Super and Australian Practical Superannuation. YourChoice and AusPrac were sub-plans of the MAP Master Superannuation Plan prior to 1 December 2020. After 1 December 2020, YourChoice and Ausprac became sub-plans of the OneSuper Fund.
In May 2024, Falcon suspended the processing of applications and withdrawals from First Guardian subject to some limited exceptions, to allow for a restructure of the fund and its underlying assets. The suspension was never lifted and in February 2025 ASIC took action to freeze the assets of Falcon Capital Limited and First Guardian (25-027MR).
Falcon Capital Limited is currently in liquidation. Ross Blakeley and Paul Harlond of FTI Consulting were appointed as liquidators of Falcon Capital and were directed by the Court to wind up First Guardian. The liquidators issued an updated report to unitholders and creditors on 2 December 2025: FTI Consulting.
In April 2025, when the liquidators were ordered to wind up First Guardian, Diversa had approximately $243 million invested in First Guardian, associated with 2,055 superannuation members.
