Adviser hit with 5-year ban for misleading clients

In a statement, ASIC said it had banned former Australian Unity Personal Financial Services (AUPFS) authorised representative Christopher Chan from providing financial services for five years.

Mr Chan had been found to have sent emails to some of his clients encouraging them to opt out of MySuper during the transition process in 2016, saying that the MySuper fund they would be transferred into had higher fees than their existing fund. This was not the case for all clients Mr Chan wrote to, ASIC said.

“Subsequent to Mr Chan sending the emails to clients, some members did not fully transition to MySuper and continued paying higher fees as a result,” the regulator said.

“In providing this advice, ASIC found that Mr Chan failed to identify each client’s objectives, financial situation and needs, and base all judgements on each client’s relevant circumstances.

“ASIC also found that Mr Chan prioritised his company receiving commissions over the interests of his clients.”

ASIC added that in the course of its initial investigation into Mr Chan in 2017 and 2018, he had failed to disclose the emails to the regulator or his licensee.

Mr Chan was an authorised representative of AUPFS from 2016 to 2019 and of Infocus Securities Australia from April 2019 to September 2020.