Kristian Fok opinion piece published in The Australian
27 July 2026
Media Release
It sounds great in theory.
Establishing a self-managed super fund, picking the investments you’re most interested in, taking control of your financial future.
Overseas villas? Commodities? Cryptocurrency? Take it to the moon.
It’s an easy sell – one that speaks seductively to the Australian dream – and it’s being made with increasing frequency.
But there’s no fine print. No asterisk. No warning.
While the retail and industry funds need to do a better job of educating and retaining members in a competitive market, what most people aren’t being told is that by leaving an APRA-regulated fund, you’re leaving your safety net behind.
You could lose everything.
Most people see superannuation as a safe bet, and they should.
Decades of institutional oversight, diversified portfolios, and billions under management have earned that reputation.
But switch from a highly-regulated fund into an SMSF, and you carry all the risk.
Losing your retirement savings is one of those risks, and there is no shortage of sharks, schemers and scammers out there willing to help you do just that.
For some people an SMSF might be the right choice, but they aren’t suitable for everyone and Australians need to be made aware of the responsibilities and risks involved.
That’s to say nothing of your time spent or fees paid administering your own fund or getting advice to manage the investments.
A starting point for stronger protections could be minimum balances for establishing an SMSF.
ASIC previously issued guidance that licensed financial advisers should only consider recommending an SMSF to clients with a balance of $500,000 or more, on the basis that only at this minimum balance was SMSF performance considered comparable to other APRA-regulated super funds.
Despite data from the Australian Tax Office showing that unless you have a very significant starting balance – approaching seven figures – historically most won’t get better returns with an SMSF, ASIC’s guidance was updated in 2022 to remove any reference to a specific threshold.
What we’ve seen since is mass promotion and advertising of SMSFs, complete with promises of bitcoin riches and grand Balinese resorts.
As a result, recent data from Super Members Council (SMC) for 2024 and 2025 shows super switching is being dominated by younger, low-balance members.
More than 60 per cent of SMSF switchers hold under $100,000, with around half of them aged under 45.
SMSF return figures for those with lower balances are stark and on average often materially lower than what most APRA-regulated funds deliver.
And the costs are severe.
Per SMC, someone with less than $100,000 in an SMSF faces operating costs between 18-40 times higher than if they stay in a MySuper product in an APRA-regulated fund.
We know our young members are being targeted by social media algorithms and AI-driven ads promising quick and easy wealth, because they’re telling us.
Stronger anti-hawking laws to prevent unsolicited super selling were a legacy of the Hayne Royal Commission, but lead generators side-step them by using clickbait ads and on-selling leads.
But now the corporate regulator has warned there is evidence these lead generator are engaged in “industrial-scale misconduct”
The sales tactics we see exploit the fear of missing out and urge people to be more hands-on with their super.
That’s dangerous when many assume their super is safe regardless of what product they’re in, something proven painfully wrong in cases like First Guardian and Shield, where more than 11,000 people had their retirement savings wiped out.
The Financial Advice Association of Australia has also warned that inaction on SMSFs could expose consumers to extreme risk, especially from those promoting property schemes.
SMSFs have a legitimate place in the superannuation sector, but too many unscrupulous players want to put you in the wrong place because it can give them a lifetime of business.
Without capping the fees they can deduct, bad actors will continue to pocket excessive fees and dwindle retirement savings.
APRA and ATO data shows total advice fees deducted from Australians’ super accounts increased by more than $1 billion dollars from 2023 to 2025, while the growth rate in advice fees nearly tripled.
This is a significant trend and warrants our scrutiny.
Putting in place maximum limits on advice fees that can be drawn from super accounts per annum, and preventing those charges from being taken from accounts with low balances, would help eliminate those on the fringes of the system looking to exploit workers for their own gain.
Getting access to good financial advice is important for everyone, especially those approaching retirement. Deducting advice fees from super balances allows more Australians to access quality advice, but there needs to be a consistent limit.
We’ve seen the incredible harm done by the Shield and First Guardian collapses, and it’s a critical issue for CBUS as we know our members are being targeted by these sophisticated sales tactics.
CBUS will continue to call for greater protections in superannuation, and the Federal Government is moving ahead with some important reforms.
The current consultation on consumer protections is a really important first step, but more needs to be done until we can say that all super funds are safe.
Cbus Super is the leading Industry Super Fund representing those that help build, maintain and shape Australia. As one of Australia’s largest super funds, we provide superannuation and income stream accounts to more than 925,000 members and we manage more than $110 billion of our members’ money (as at 31 December 2025). As of April 2022, Cbus merged with Media Super and offers Media Super products. In May 2023 Cbus Super successfully completed its merger with EISS Super, welcoming 17,000 new members and establishing itself as the leading fund for energy and electrical workers in Australia.
This information is about Cbus Super. It doesn’t account for your specific needs. Please consider your financial position, objectives and requirements before making financial decisions. Read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination to decide if Cbus Super is right for you. Call 1300 361 784 or visit cbussuper.com.au
Issued 27 July 2026. United Super Pty Ltd ABN 46 006 261 623 AFSL 233792 as trustee for Construction and Building Unions Superannuation Fund (Cbus and/or Cbus Super) ABN 75 493 363 262.