Diversa pulls Praemium into the First Guardian firing line

Yesterday, Praemium confirmed it had received notices of cross-claim from Diversa Trustees in relation to the onboarding and monitoring of First Guardian investment products. 

Diversa, which is currently being sued by ASIC over alleged due diligence and monitoring failures, is seeking compensation from Praemium, Powerwrap and OneVue Wealth Services (OVWS) in the event ASIC’s claim proves successful.  

X

Continue to Website

In an ASX statement, Praemium said that Diversa had not “foreshadowed” these claims, and that existing agreements require the trustee to “undertake a dispute resolution process before commencing proceedings, which has not yet been done.” As a result, Praemium said no steps will be taken until that process is complete.  

The platform operator also noted that ASIC itself has yet to make any claims against Praemium, Powerwrap or OVWS.  

ASIC commenced legal action against Diversa in December last year. At the time, the regulator claimed that around $300 million was invested into First Guardian between 2020 and 2024 and that this represented a failure to “exercise the same degree of care, skill and diligence as a prudent superannuation trustee would.” 

Diversa was also accused of failing to act in its members’ best interests, exercising due diligence in developing, offering and reviewing investment options and “[doing] all things necessary to ensure the financial services covered by its [AFSL] were provided efficiently, honestly and fairly.” 

In response, the trustee said it would “vigorously defend” ASIC’s claim, noting that “Praemium Australia Limited is the promoter and platform operator of Praemium and OneVue Wealth Services Limited is the promoter and platform operator of YourChoice and AusPrac, and both entities are owned by the Praemium group.” 

Diversa also said it would be giving consideration to “other parties [that] may have [played roles] in causing loss or damage to members in connection to the First Guardian collapse.” 

In April this year, Diversa made an application for $239 million in financial assistance from the federal government. The group said this application was “in the best financial interests of members” and that any assistance provided will be “applied for the benefit of affected members.” 

“Diversa considers the First Guardian Master Fund’s losses to have resulted from fraudulent conduct,” Diversa said.  

It continued: “Members of the YourChoice Super fund, the Australian Practical Superannuation fund and the Praemium SMA Superannuation Fund have suffered losses due to exposure to the First Guardian fund and the associated fraudulent conduct.  

“Considering the circumstances of the First Guardian fund’s losses, Diversa determined that it is appropriate to seek financial assistance from the Federal Government under Part 23 of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth).” 

Both Diversa and OVWS were previously owned by OneVue Group, which Iress acquired in November 2020. Iress subsequently sold OVWS to Praemium in April 2024.

In a quarterly ASX update last year, Praemium said that nearly all of its $286 million exposure to First Guardian was “on the OneVue platform when it was acquired from Iress.”

The ASX statement added: “Praemium is focused on supporting members who have been impacted and working cooperatively with industry bodies and regulators, including ASIC, whilst the legal, regulatory and recovery processes continue.”