APRA has imposed additional licence conditions on Fiducian Portfolio Services Limited, citing prudential concerns over the trustee’s investment governance frameworks, platform oversight and board effectiveness.
Fiducian is trustee of the Fiducian Superannuation Fund, which has about 9,779 member accounts and more than $3.1 billion in funds under management.
The regulator said the action followed its thematic review of platform trustees’ investment governance, strategic planning and member outcomes practices, which identified deficiencies in Fiducian’s onboarding processes for new investment options, investment option monitoring and reporting, conflicts management, and board governance and oversight.
APRA said its review found concerns around a lack of sufficiently rigorous, well-defined and consistently applied investment selection criteria, as well as the adequacy of due diligence for new investment options.
It also raised issues with the design and operational effectiveness of Fiducian’s monitoring and reporting frameworks in identifying and responding to performance and risk concerns.
The prudential regulator further pointed to the management of potential conflicts of interest, particularly where related-party service providers offer, manage or advise on investment options available through the platform.
Board governance was also in scope, with APRA identifying deficiencies in the quality of information provided to the board, subsequent deliberation, and the effectiveness of board oversight.
Under the additional licence conditions, effective from 2 April 2026, Fiducian must appoint an independent expert to conduct separate reviews of certain high-risk products on its platform investment menus, along with its investment governance and conflicts management frameworks.
It must also appoint an independent expert to review the effectiveness of its board of directors and board committees.
Fiducian will be required to develop and implement uplift plans to address gaps identified in those reviews, provide APRA with assurance that remediation actions are complete and effective, and undertake a further review of its investment menu against enhanced onboarding and monitoring requirements to assess the ongoing suitability of each investment option.
The regulator said Fiducian must also refrain from onboarding certain new high-risk investment options until an independent expert confirms the option has undergone an adequate onboarding process and an accountable person attests that all reasonable steps were taken to ensure it is in members’ best financial interests.
APRA deputy chair Margaret Cole said APRA had given “clear and public warning” to platform trustees in October 2025 that the regulator would be “escalating supervisory intensity as necessary to ensure that platform trustees were taking appropriate action to lift investment governance and member outcomes practices”.
“These actions, together with APRA’s enforcement response in December 2025, are consistent with that approach and reflect APRA’s risk-based approach to enforcement, which prioritises issues and entities that pose the most serious prudential risks.
“APRA will continue to coordinate closely with ASIC to address investment governance weaknesses identified in platform trustees,” she said.
In a statement, Fiducian has acknowledged the receipt of APRA’s additional licence conditions.
“Fiducian respects APRA’s role as Australia’s prudential regulator and takes the requirements raised by them seriously.
“We are reviewing the matter and are committed to engaging constructively with APRA as always. Fiducian has established frameworks for investment governance, investment options and board operations and shall appoint independent experts as required, to review and recommend any improvement opportunities which Fiducian will implement.
“The aforesaid additional licence conditions do not affect the continuing operations of the Fund or safety of members’ assets,” Fiducian said.
The fund has confirmed that its processes have “avoided high-risk products such as, Shield Master Fund and First Guardian Master Fund”.