{"id":875544,"date":"2026-08-31T23:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T23:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/875544\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T23:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T23:30:13","slug":"superannuation-collapses-jimmy-wanted-more-money-for-retirement-that-decision-cost-him-252000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/875544\/","title":{"rendered":"Superannuation collapses: Jimmy wanted more money for retirement. That decision cost him $252,000"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exclusive: Jimmy Chenoweth is missing $252,000 in superannuation after becoming entangled in Australia\u2019s \u201cforgotten\u201d investment scheme collapse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The South Australian<\/a> grandfather\u2019s tale of financial despair started with a simple Google search.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jimmy Chenoweth was hoping to switch supers for better returns. Instead, he lost everything.\u00a0Nine.com.au<\/p>\n

Chenoweth, 56, entered his details into an online super comparison site in 2021, hoping to find a different home for his modest nest egg.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very unhappy with my fund at the time. I didn\u2019t feel like I was getting the return I wanted,\u201d Chenoweth told nine.com.au<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0 went online to compare my super, which I thought was just another one of those sites, like comparing your electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cold call arrived within minutes.<\/p>\n

Chenoweth\u00a0said it was like speaking with a smooth-talking car salesman, not a financial planner.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was promising returns, probably I’d say almost double of what I was currently getting,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time, I was looking at my super, going, \u2018Oh my God, I’m not going to have enough retirement. I need to do something\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe carrot was dangled.\u201d<\/p>\n

His money was eventually transferred into Global Diversified Alpha Fund, an investment scheme managed by Australian Fiduciaries Limited (AFL), a Queensland-based financial services licensee and the fund\u2019s responsible entity.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

ASIC is investigating AFL and several related entities.\u00a0Jim Rice<\/p>\n

The Australian Securities Investment Commission (ASIC), one of Australia\u2019s financial watchdogs, has an ongoing investigation into AFL and numerous related entities.<\/p>\n

For several years, it seemed as though Chenoweth\u2019s money was growing. <\/p>\n

There was a $10,000 boost in 2024.<\/p>\n

That gravy train soon ended.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Chenoweth enjoyed a super boost of nearly $10,000 in 2024.\u00a0Nine.com.au<\/p>\n

AFL entered liquidation in August 2025, taking $160 million in retirement savings with it.<\/p>\n

Nearly 600 Australian investors were caught up in the complicated collapse, including Chenoweth.<\/p>\n

Chenoweth believes he wasn\u2019t warned enough of the high-risk, high-return method.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a risk-taker. I never have been… not with money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I even thought that I would lose a portion of my super or go backwards, there is absolutely no way I would have gone with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Chenoweth learned of the liquidation, he emailed his accountant asking if his super was now missing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t look good,\u201d his accountant responded, in an email seen by nine.com.au<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He is still unsure where his money actually is.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Chenoweth had used an online super comparison tool for a health check.\u00a0Dominic Lorrimer<\/p>\n

Chenoweth\u2019s $252,000 nest egg now hangs in the balance, with no guarantee of recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many of us with the best of intentions of actually having a better retirement now left with nothing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He has struggled with his mental health since learning about the superannuation disaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to work now until I\u2019m basically carried off in a box,\u201d Chenoweth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t leave me\u2026 I try to get on with my life but my wife and I aren’t wealthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s an ongoing struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Small ray of hope for impacted investors<\/p>\n

AFL failed around the same time as the twin First Guardian and Master Shield wipeout, which saw close to 12,000 Aussies lose $1.1 billion.<\/a><\/p>\n

Chenoweth said the attention given to First Guardian and Master Shield made him and other AFL investors feel left behind.<\/p>\n

The blows kept on coming when he was told his complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) could not progress because APT Strategies, the relevant licensee for AFL, was deregistered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in January 2025.<\/p>\n

But in a small ray of hope for investors in AFL, ACFA announced on Thursday it has now officially reinstated APT as a member, meaning impacted investors can now submit complaints.<\/p>\n

However, the liquidation means it is unlikely victims of the collapse will be refunded their full investment.<\/p>\n

A ruling from AFCA under this scheme is expected to result in a determination from the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR), which can pay up to $150,000 to consumers when a company is liquidated and compensation pathways are exhausted.<\/p>\n

Many of the 600 AFL investors, like Chenoweth, lost far more than $150,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least it would be something,\u201d he said<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I\u2019ve lost it all\u2026 anything from here is a bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n

The information provided on this website is general in nature only and does not constitute personal financial advice. The information has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information on this website you should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Jimmy Chenoweth is missing $252,000 in superannuation after becoming entangled in Australia\u2019s \u201cforgotten\u201d investment scheme collapse. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":875545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-875544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875544","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=875544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}