ASIC Finds $678 Million Moved After Lead Generator Referrals
ASIC examined 15 financial advice licensees and found lead generators earned up to 100 per cent of upfront advice fees. More than $678 million was switched or invested after referrals, about 90 per cent of it from superannuation, between January 2025 and June 2026.
ASIC, the corporate regulator, found that 15 financial advice licensees signed up 7639 new clients through lead generators between January 2025 and June 2026. That was about 35 per cent of their new clients. The finding sharpens a blunt argument: your retirement savings shouldn’t be someone else’s sales target.
A licensee is the business legally responsible for the financial advice given under its licence. Lead generators are the middlemen who collect contact details from people who respond to online ads and pass them on.
How the funnel works
An ad promises to tell people in their mid-50s or 60s whether they are on track for retirement. They click, answer a few questions and leave a phone number or email.
Their details can then go to a business whose job is to turn that worry into an appointment with a financial adviser. That appointment could end with a recommendation to move savings out of a conventional super fund into a much higher-risk investment approach.
What ASIC found
Some lead generators were paid between 80 and 100 per cent of the upfront advice fee when they turned a person into a client. That fee could be deducted entirely from the client's superannuation savings.
Some lead generators told people their funds were not performing well enough. Others frightened them about what could happen if the market crashed.
The money involved
Across the 15 licensees, clients paid $9.8 million in upfront advice fees. They agreed to another $4.5 million in annual ongoing fees.
ASIC found that more than $678 million was switched or invested after referrals from lead generators across these 15 businesses alone. About 90 per cent of that money came from superannuation savings.
Once a client signs up, the advice business can collect ongoing fees potentially for years. If the client is persuaded to switch super, substantial sums can also flow into investment management and platforms, generating further revenue for the businesses involved.
Call for a ban
An opinion column on the findings argues that Australia should ban lead generation that financially rewards businesses for funnelling people towards financial advice, financial products and super switching. The ban would apply whether the referral is direct or runs through a chain of intermediaries.
The author says most Australians know nothing about this business model and shouldn't have to. There is, the column says, a real difference between helping someone understand their retirement options and making money from steering them towards a decision that might not be in their best interests.
