The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has imposed new licence conditions on Diversa Trustees to address concerns about its investment governance frameworks and oversight of platform investment options available to members.
Diversa is the trustee for 10 registrable superannuation entities and oversees approximately 291,000 member accounts and more than $15 billion in funds under management.
The additional conditions come just days after APRA imposed additional conditions on Equity Trustees Superannuation for the same issues.
The conditions follow APRA’s thematic review of investment governance, strategic planning and member outcomes across trustees operating platforms which identified deficiencies in Diversa’s onboarding practices, investment monitoring and reporting, and management of conflicts of interest.
APRA’s review cited concerns with Diversa’s onboarding of new investment options, including a lack of “sufficiently rigorous, well-defined and consistently applied investment selection criteria”.
It also identified shortcomings in operational due diligence for new options and weaknesses in the trustee’s investment monitoring and reporting framework.
APRA said it requires assurance, with independent oversight, that Diversa’s investment governance framework is fit for purpose in both design and operation.
Under the new licence conditions, effective 23 December 2025, Diversa must appoint an independent expert to review its platform investment menus and investment governance framework.
It must also develop and implement an uplift plan to address identified gaps and provide APRA with assurance or attestation that remediation actions are complete and effective.
The trustee is further required to undertake an additional review of its investment menus against enhanced investment governance requirements to determine the ongoing suitability of particular options.
Diversa is also prohibited from onboarding new high-risk investment options without following an enhanced due diligence process overseen by the independent expert and having an accountable person attest that the onboarding is in members’ best financial interests.
APRA said these steps build on its 7 October 2025 public letter signalling heightened supervisory intensity for platform trustees where necessary.
Deputy chair Margaret Cole said: “APRA has made clear our expectations around effective investment governance frameworks and practices, including in relation to onboarding and monitoring of investment options, to ensure they are in members’ best financial interests.
“Trustees play an important role curating the investment options made available to members and their decisions should be underpinned by robust governance.”
APRA said it will continue coordinating with ASIC on the regulatory response to weaknesses identified across platform trustees.
Earlier this month, ASIC commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against Diversa, alleging failures concerning the First Guardian Master Fund.
According to ASIC, around $300 million was invested into First Guardian from 2020 to 2024 through superannuation funds for which Diversa was trustee.
In the filing, ASIC alleged that Diversa had failed to conduct “adequate due diligence before allowing its members to invest and failed to conduct adequate ongoing monitoring”.
The regulator also alleged that Diversa failed to enforce a 50 per cent holding limit that it had imposed for First Guardian and failed to have systems and processes in place to ensure that there was compliance with that holding limit.
“This is another significant action relating to the First Guardian collapse which is an ongoing enforcement priority for 2026,” said ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court.
“Superannuation trustees must put their members first by acting with care and skill and by carrying out proper checks on investment options made available on their platforms.”
