{"id":813027,"date":"2026-07-20T21:39:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/813027\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T21:39:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:39:12","slug":"first-guardian-and-shield-master-fund-collapse-debbie-has-been-locked-out-of-retirement-after-her-139000-super-balance-disappeared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/813027\/","title":{"rendered":"First Guardian and Shield Master Fund collapse: Debbie has been locked out of retirement after her $139,000 super balance disappeared"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exclusive: Debbie Simpson\u2019s heart breaks when she watches friends blow out candles on their retirement cakes, travel Australia<\/a> and spend precious time with grandchildren. <\/p>\n

The 61-year-old Queensland woman cannot retire herself, even after nearly half a century in the workforce and diligent superannuation contributions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Debbie Simpson, 61, has taken on two jobs to recover her lost money.\u00a0Debbie Simpson<\/p>\n

Do you have a story? Contact\u00a0reporter April Glover at\u00a0april.glover@nine.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Her $139,000 super balance was frozen in the First Guardian investment scheme collapse.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m going to be working until I die,\u201d Simpson told nine.com.au.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m never going to get to travel or spend time with my grandkids or do anything… because I\u2019m just going to be working.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simpson has worked in retail since she was 14.<\/p>\n

But becoming a single mother in the 1990s meant her retirement fund was meagre compared to other Australians her age.<\/p>\n

She decided to take better control of her finances and switch super funds in 2023 for healthier returns after speaking to a colleague.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did the online compare super tool, and within say 10 minutes, I received a phone call,\u201d Simpson recalled.<\/p>\n

Simpson said the lead generator then connected her to a financial advisor from Rhys Reilly, an authorised representative of Interprac.<\/p>\n

She alleges an advisor said she could \u201cdouble her money\u201d if she switched her $116,273 superannuation from Rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt safe and excited about the promises ahead of me,\u201d Simpson said in her complaint lodged with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Queensland mum now feels locked out of retirement.\u00a0Debbie Simpson<\/p>\n

Along with taking this advice, she also added extra contributions to keep her fund healthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I didn\u2019t buy a coffee, I put money into another bank account, and when it added up, I transferred it over to my super,\u201d Simpson explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI should have just had the coffee, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly two years after switching her super, Simpson heard about the First Guardian collapse.<\/p>\n

Before this, her entire balance had been transferred into YourChoice super, which was invested into\u00a0First Guardian Growth Strategies Fund.<\/p>\n

Nearly 6000 Australian investors lost a total of $446 million when First Guardian went into liquidation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never heard of this name before,\u201d Simpson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even know that it was part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simpson desperately tried to transfer her money from YourChoice, which later migrated to Praemium.<\/p>\n

Nine.com.au<\/a> is not suggesting any wrongdoing by Praemium.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The amount left in Simpson\u2019s super fund after First Guardian collapsed.\u00a0Debbie Simpson<\/p>\n

In a statement to the ASX, Praemium said it \u201cis focused on supporting members who have been impacted and working cooperatively with industry bodies and regulators, including ASIC, whilst the legal, regulatory and recovery processes continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The value of Simpson\u2019s investment had reached $139,188.34 in 2024. <\/p>\n

By mid-2025, Simpson\u2019s balance had depleted to just $9. It is now sitting at around $111.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have nothing, everything was frozen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just too much for me. I felt like I was going to have a breakdown.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Simpson is awaiting the result of her complaint to AFCA.\u00a0Debbie Simpson<\/p>\n

Simpson has found herself in a puddle of tears more than once over her vanishing retirement fund.<\/p>\n

Her only option as she awaits a resolution to her complaint with AFCA is to work twice as hard to rebuild the balance.<\/p>\n

After returning to Rest, Simpson has accumulated a small nest egg of around $30,000.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly not enough to retire or even reduce her hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m working in the gym at nighttime after I\u2019ve worked all day in retail, I\u2019m just so exhausted,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if I keep a positive mindset and plan my life without that money, that\u2019s a better option than me checking the computer and answering every scam phone call I get, hoping it\u2019s from AFCA.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it hits you when you see your other friends, and they\u2019re on cruises and holidays and paid off their house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Queensland postcodes with most victims<\/p>\n

Around 12,000 Australians have lost a total of $1.1 billion after First Guardian and Master Shield investment funds collapsed in 2025.<\/p>\n

Many investors could still be unaware due to the complicated schemes and associated entities.<\/p>\n

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has revealed the postcodes in Queensland with the highest concentration of victims.<\/p>\n

The suburbs with the most impacted investors are Mackay, Coomera, Pimpama, Toowoomba and Bundaberg.<\/p>\n

Simpson lives in Coomera.<\/p>\n

Fellow investor and advocate Melinda Kee is concerned that many victims are still unaware their retirement fund was tied up in one of the collapsed schemes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are not just postcodes,\u201d Kee said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are communities\u2026 families. Retirements that have been shaken.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now there are people going about their daily lives, not knowing their retirement savings may be at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

ASIC investigation continues<\/p>\n

ASIC has banned former financial advisor Rhys James Rolls Reilly from providing financial services for 10 years and has suspended the Australian financial services (AFS) licence of Conexus Group Pty Ltd (Conexus) until July 31, 2026.<\/p>\n

ASIC alleges Reilly engaged in \u201cserious misconduct\u201d, including \u201caccepting conflicted remuneration, making false or misleading statements to clients, failing to act in clients\u2019 best interests, and prioritising his own interests over those of clients\u201d.<\/p>\n

It has commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against Diversa Trustees Limited, alleging failures concerning the First Guardian Master Fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiversa is the trustee of a number of APRA regulated superannuation funds,\u201d ASIC said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

ASIC has also commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against Interprac over alleged Shield and First Guardian failures.<\/p>\n

ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court added that \u201cInterprac\u2019s alleged oversight and compliance failures exposed thousands of Australians to poor advice and significant financial risk\u201d.<\/p>\n

Simpson is now awaiting the result of her AFCA complaint and the multiple ongoing ASIC investigations into the First Guardian collapse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Debbie Simpson\u2019s heart breaks when she watches friends blow out candles on their retirement cakes, travel Australia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":813028,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-813027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}