What you need to know about Shield and First Guardian Master Funds

Thousands of Australians have lost their life savings – are you one of them?

Last updated: 12 September 2025

Recently there has been a lot of media coverage of the Shield and First Guardian Master Fund collapses. Over 12,000 Australians may have lost their retirement savings after their investments in these two funds collapsed. 

But how do you know if you’re one of them? And if you are, what should you do?

Here’s what you need to know.

What are Shield and First Guardian?

Shield Master Fund and First Guardian Master Fund are managed investment schemes – a type of fund that holds a range of different investments. People can buy a share of the fund, which is easier and often cheaper than trying to directly buy the individual stock, bonds or other assets the fund is invested in. It’s a lot like buying a loaf of sliced bread instead of buying the ingredients and baking your own. 

On the advice of a financial adviser, many people invested their super in these funds through an investment platform – like a share-trading platform – that lets you or your financial adviser make your own investment mix. 

What’s the problem?

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) – the regulator – had concerns that both funds were not being managed properly. Both funds were frozen and liquidators were appointed to look at the books, find and sell all the assets and pay all the debts. Neither fund has enough money to pay back investors in full and it will take a few years to get it all sorted out. Meanwhile, ASIC is investigating the people responsible for both funds, the financial advice businesses who recommended the funds and the super funds who made Shield and First Guardian available to their members to invest in.

How did people get into Shield and First Guardian?

ASIC is still investigating, but so far it looks like many people who invested were called by telemarketers known as ‘lead generators.’ While some were coldcalled, many clicked on a social media ad offering a free super comparison or review and completed a form with their contact details. 

The lead generators would refer people to financial advisers who told them they would get better returns if they moved their super to a platform and invested in Shield or First Guardian. Some people were advised to invest in Shield or First Guardian through a self managed superannuation fund (SMSF). Often the adviser would recommend that the person invest all or most of their money in one of these funds, rather than invest in a mix of things.

How do I know if I’m invested in Shield or First Guardian?

Many of the people who invested in Shield or First Guardian didn’t know they were invested in it. So how do you know if you’re affected?

• Check what super fund you’re with. All of the people who invested in Shield or First Guardian through super were with one of the super funds in the table below.
• Contact your super fund if you are in one of the funds below, and ask them if you’re invested in Shield or First Guardian.

Will people get their money back?

As of the date of writing, it’s hard to say. The liquidators for Shield have confirmed that people will get some money back, but it won’t be everything they invested. The liquidators for First Guardian are not sure if there is going to be anything left and it will take them a while before they know for sure.

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has the power to award compensation where it finds that a business has broken the law when providing financial services. If you make a successful complaint to AFCA, you may get your money back if the business is able to pay the compensation awarded. If your complaint is against a financial advice business and it is not able to pay (for example because it is in liquidation), you can make a claim to the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR). If you are eligible, the CSLR will pay up to $150,000 per person.

ASIC is also considering whether the super funds have an obligation to provide compensation to impacted members. As of the date of writing, none of them has agreed. Super Consumers is calling on the super funds to provide compensation to all impacted members.

If I am invested in Shield and First Guardian, what can I do?

Complaints to AFCA

If you have concerns with the people who have been involved in your investment journey, you may be able to make a complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) and ask for compensation.

• You can make a complaint about a financial adviser if you believe the financial advice you received was not in your best interests or broke the law. 
• You can make a complaint about your super fund if you believe that the fund has made a decision about you that you think is unfair or unreasonable. However, AFCA may not be able to deal with complaints about the general management of a super fund, including a fund’s decision to make an investment available for its members to invest in, or the performance of that investment.

If you want to make a complaint to AFCA, there are two very important things you need to know.

1. You can only make a complaint against a business that is a member of AFCA. 

Often the person who actually gives you advice is an ‘authorised representative’ of a financial advice licensee who is an AFCA member. You need to make the complaint against the financial advice licensee. AFCA will reject your complaint if you make it against the wrong company, so it’s important to get it right. 

Tip: check your advice documents for the name of the financial advice licensee. Their name should be listed on any advice documents that were given to you when you received financial advice.

You can also use ASIC’s Financial Adviser Register to look up the name of the financial adviser to find out which company they worked for and who the financial advice licensee is. Look for the words ‘licence holder.’ A list of the financial advice licensees and some of the authorised representatives who advised people to invest in Shield and First Guardian is in the table below. 

2. If the financial advice business is in liquidation or loses its licence, you must complain to AFCA before their AFCA membership expires.

When a financial advice business goes into liquidation, ASIC will often cancel its Australian financial services licence. As a condition of the cancellation, ASIC will require the business to keep its AFCA membership for a period of time, generally for one year. If you make a complaint after its AFCA membership expires, AFCA cannot deal with your complaint and you won’t be eligible for compensation. 

It’s important you don’t miss the deadline. Complaint deadlines for each financial advice licensee are listed in the table below. You can use AFCA’s member search tool to confirm the business is an AFCA member.

Reports to ASIC

If you feel that any of the people or companies you’ve dealt with about your investment in Shield or First Guardian have broken the law, you can report them to ASIC. ASIC can investigate and take enforcement action against people and companies who have broken the law. 

Taking action to stop high risk super switching schemes is an enforcement priority for ASIC and it has already banned a number of financial advisers and other people responsible for switching people into Shield. Enforcement action holds people accountable for their actions and prevents them harming anyone again in the future. 

ASIC cannot get your money back for you, but in some cases ASIC can get businesses to compensate people who were harmed as a result of their misconduct. 

You can make a report to ASIC about misconduct by completing this form.

Isn’t super meant to be safe?

Super funds offer different types of products. Most products have a lot of protections, including an annual performance test by a regulator. If they fail the performance test once, they have to let you know. If they fail a second time, they aren’t allowed to take on new members until they can solve the problem, usually by merging with a better fund. In 2025, all non-platform products passed the test. 

Products that super funds offer through platforms – but don’t design themselves – are not  tested. While super trustees still have obligations when choosing which products to make available and to keep an eye on them over time – they won’t necessarily take something off the shelf if it’s not performing and generally rely on you or your financial adviser to decide what to do. That means it’s really important to ask questions of your financial adviser before moving into a platform product.

How can I protect myself?

Here are some steps you can take to protect yourself and your family. 

• Keep scrolling past social media ads offering to compare your super or give you a free super review. Hang up on cold callers. 
• Use the ATO super comparison tool to compare products. It tells you about fees, performance and whether the product passed the performance test.
• Check the Financial Advisers Register to see if an adviser is licensed and qualified to provide advice.
• Take time to ask questions and read documents before agreeing to anything. Super is a long term investment – you’re not going to miss out if you take some time to make a decision. If you’re feeling pressured, just hang up. 
• Don’t be afraid to ask for a second opinion from someone outside the advice business before switching your super or making other big financial decisions. 

Where can I get more information?

See the links below for more information about each topic.

Share your story

Are you affected by the Shield or First Guardian collapses and want to share your story with us? Super Consumers uses real-life case studies in our investigative journalism and our submissions to decision-makers to help show why change is needed. Together, we can hold the industry accountable and make the superannuation system work for everyone.