Three super funds fined for misleading investment options

Three industry superannuation funds - Australian Retirement Trust (ART), TelstraSuper and Australian Food Super - have been pinged by ASIC for misleading members about their investment options' asset allocation and performance objectives.

Each super fund was slapped with two infringement notices totalling $39,600 after ASIC identified "alleged false or misleading representations about their superannuation investment options during a review of disclosures on superannuation trustees' websites." The total amount was $118,800.

From 10 July 2025 to at least 15 October 2025, ART represented in its online member portal that its unlisted assets investment option was invested 100% in unlisted assets and alternatives.

ASIC found that about 5% of the option was invested in listed property and/or listed equities.

AMIST's website and Member Outcomes Assessment Summary showed that its alternatives option was invested entirely in private equity for the period between 9 July 2025 and 19 September 2025.

However, international shares made up a significant portion of the option, ASIC said, accounting for 41.12% of assets at the end of August 2025.

TelstraSuper, which is now known as Tetra Servicing and officially became part of Aware Super in April, stated on its website that its property option used a seven-year time horizon to set and measure its return objective and had a long-term strategic investment mix of 62.5% growth assets and 37.5% defensive assets.

The option instead used a 10-year time horizon and a long-term strategic investment mix of 67.5% growth assets and 32.5% defensive assets.

ASIC said this information was correctly stated in its investment guide, which formed part of the PDS and was linked from TelstraSuper's website, but the corresponding website representations were inaccurate. The offending period was from 16 July 2025 to 16 March 2026.

ART and TelstraSuper have already paid the fine. Australian Meat Industry Superannuation (AMIST), the trustee of Australian Food Super, has agreed to pay the amounts payable.

"Payment of an infringement notice is not an admission of guilt or liability," ASIC said.

This action forms part of the regulator's duty to hold superannuation trustees to account for member services and disclosure failures and to reinforce the importance of accurate and consistent investment disclosures.

"Getting these basics right is fundamental," ASIC commissioner Simone Constant said.

"Trustees should regularly review their disclosures to ensure they are current, accurate and consistent with how investment options are actually managed. Where we identify misleading conduct, ASIC will not hesitate to take regulatory action," she said.