Macquarie and Netwealth ban InterPrac advisers from platforms amid ASIC probe

Two of Australia's largest investment platforms have banned accepting new clients from InterPrac advisers, as the fallout from the Shield and First Guardian scandals intensifies.

Macquarie and Netwealth have told InterPrac advisers they will no longer accept new business from them. Picture: iStock

Macquarie and Netwealth have moved to ban InterPrac Financial Planning advisers from adding new business to their platforms.

Both firms have written to InterPrac stating they will no longer accept new clients from anyone authorised by the scandal-hit licensee.

Macquarie’s decision to sever all new business from InterPrac comes weeks after it dumped hundreds of investment options from its wealth platform in a bid to reduce risk following the Shield and First Guardian scandals.

Macquarie operates the country’s second-largest wealth management platform, sitting just behind market leader Insignia, with $165bn in assets under administration.

Its ban on InterPrac new business comes into effect on January 12, according to correspondence sent by InterPrac’s parent company, Sequoia Financial, to advisers this week.

“We wanted to bring to your attention the communication we’ve received from Macquarie regarding changes to their distribution arrangements with Sequoia Financial Group,” the email, seen by The Australian, says.

“Macquarie has advised that, following a recent review, they will cease permitting the distribution of their products and services by InterPrac Financial Planning, effective 12th January 2026.”

“We understand this may cause inconvenience for some advisers and clients. Please be assured that we are actively working on a resolution with Macquarie,” Sequoia said in the email, sent on Tuesday.

The move to sever new business will not impact existing InterPrac clients on the platform.

Netwealth, likewise, will also cut ties with InterPrac new business from January. It is implementing the ban from January 16.

In a letter sent to InterPrac advisers on Friday, Netwealth said it intends to wind down the relationship with InterPrac.

“We are writing to inform you that Netwealth Investments Limited (NIL) and Netwealth Superannuation Services Pty Ltd (together “Netwealth”) will stop accepting new clients from advisers authorised by Interprac Financial Planning Pty Ltd (“Interprac”) effective 16 January 2026,” Netwealth wrote.

“Netwealth regularly reviews its relationships with financial advice licensees. Following a review of Netwealth’s relationship with Interprac, Netwealth determined to make this decision,” the firm wrote in the letter.

“Netwealth is committed to a transparent and orderly wind down of the relationship with InterPrac.”

Advisers authorised by Interprac can continue to administer existing clients on both its investment and super platforms, the company said.

Being cut off from the platforms is the latest blow to strike InterPrac and comes in the same week the corporate regulator announced it was suing the company for its role in the Shield and First Guardian failures.

Shield and First Guardian were managed investment schemes that took in $1bn of retail investor super money between 2021 and 2024. They collapsed into liquidation in the past year and are under investigation for allegedly misusing investor funds.

Only a handful of advice firms around the country recommended clients invest in the two funds and three of those firms operated under InterPrac’s financial licence. Two of these advice shops, Venture Egg and Reilly Financial, allegedly put close to 7000 clients, and $677m in retirement savings, into the two funds over a three-year period.

The corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, has been investigating all links in the investment chain that led to the fund collapses, including the auditors, the research house, advisers, super trustees and the funds themselves.

In a bid to move on from the scandal, Macquarie in September paid $321m to investors who put money into Shield through its platform between 2022 and 2023. It has no exposure to First Guardian.

On Thursday, ASIC took court action against licensee InterPrac, saying it was suing the firm for allegedly having inadequate oversight of its advisers, inadequate processes in place, and failing to respond to serious issues including cookie-cutter advice provided by the advisers involved.

In a statement to the market, Sequoia said it intended to defend the allegations and believed it had acted in accordance with its obligations under the Corporations Act.

An investigation by The Australian revealed in July how, in mid-2023, InterPrac ordered all client inflows into First Guardian and Shield funds to cease. But its compliance team allegedly failed to monitor whether advisers actually complied with the orders.

According to documents filed in court by ASIC, while the funds were supposed to be on hold between July and August 2023, InterPrac-authorised advisers allegedly put the super savings of 1,400 retail clients into First Guardian. From July 2023 onwards, the same advisers put the super savings of 2,400 retail clients into Shield, ASIC alleges.

InterPrac’s parent company, ASX-listed Sequoia Financial, has taken a beating in the sharemarket this week. The stock plunged 10 per cent on Thursday after ASIC’s legal action and was down a further 14 per cent on Friday.

Originally published as Macquarie and Netwealth ban InterPrac advisers from platforms amid ASIC probe