Firms using telemarketers to spruik super switches could lose licences

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has revealed that firms employing unlicensed telemarketers to encourage Australians to transfer their superannuation savings into higher-risk investments could face the loss of their financial licenses. Over 17 months, from January 2025 to June 2026, these unqualified telemarketers, also known as lead generators, influenced more than $678 million of superannuation investments, with around 90 per cent of these funds coming from superannuation savings.

These lead generators, using social media advertisements and telephone calls, identified potential clients and introduced them to licensed financial advisers who then switched their superannuation out of regulated funds. This practice, called lead generation, accounted for approximately 35 per cent of total new clients for the 15 financial service licensees under review.

ASIC discovered that these lead generators employed high-pressure sales tactics, misleading statements, and non-like-for-like performance comparisons to persuade Australians to switch their superannuation, often exploiting those whose financial advisers failed to act in their best interests. The regulator found that some licensees were not effectively supervising or understanding activities within their networks, with five licensees lacking controls to identify high-risk superannuation switching by their authorized representatives.

ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland emphasized that these sales tactics can expose Australians to significant financial harm and warned that ASIC will continue to penalize advice licensees found guilty of serious consumer harm.