Mel Wohlers, devastated after investing nearly $370,000 of her retirement savings into the now-defunct First Guardian Master Fund, has faced severe emotional distress. "I went to a really dark place because of this and almost did something really stupid," she said, fighting back tears. Wohlers is among approximately 12,000 Australians who have lost over $1 billion in retirement savings due to the collapses of First Guardian and another fund, Shield. Many investors, like Wohlers, were nearing retirement and were attracted by promises of high returns. Some individuals have lost more than $1 million, while others remain unaware of their involvement in these financial failures.

Wohlers expressed concern for older individuals who may not be informed about the situation. "I think there's a lot of older people that maybe aren't on the internet and they don't even know [about the super collapses]," she stated. In the last decade, Australia's superannuation assets have more than doubled, reaching about $4.3 trillion, with $3 trillion managed by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

Wohlers continues to seek answers regarding the collapse of First Guardian. Currently, there is over $1 trillion in self-managed superannuation funds, which are not regulated by APRA. This leaves the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) as the primary regulator responsible for consumer protection. Investors have criticized ASIC for its slow response to the issues surrounding First Guardian and Shield.

ASIC claims it acted as quickly as possible. The agency blocked investments in Shield in February 2024 and froze First Guardian's assets in February of this year. However, these actions came after reports of alleged misconduct were sent to ASIC as early as January 2021. Sarah Court, ASIC's deputy chair, described the cases as "industrial-scale misconduct" and defended the agency's actions. "We don't think we missed red flags," she said, addressing concerns during a parliamentary hearing. "As soon as we became aware that there was something wrong with the underlying fund itself, like the solvency of the fund or investors' monies in relation to that fund, then we acted very quickly to shut that down."

Additionally, ASIC has raised serious concerns about Australian Fiduciaries, an asset manager, alleging that it inadequately managed conflicts of interest. Approximately 600 investors have invested around $160 million into managed investment schemes offered by Australian Fiduciaries.