Before you switch your super, listen to this
If you’re seeing “switch now” super ads in your feed, pause. This episode explains what’s really going on.
This week ASIC announced it has launched a review into financial advice firms and other companies connected to online super switching ads. If you’ve been on Facebook lately, you’ll know the ones I mean.
These are the ads telling you you’re losing money every day you don’t switch your super, ads suggesting your fund isn’t performing and ads nudging you to “check” or “review” your super which quickly becomes a conversation about switching.
I’ve been watching this build for months or even years. So I deliberately clicked one (as an experiment) to see how it worked and I saw it all in action.
To talk about this review of super switching financial advice and lead generation openly, I asked ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland to come on the show this week, just as this review has been launched.
We talk about what they’re seeing, how these online funnels work, what to watch out for, where harm has already occurred, and what consumers should do before handing over details or agreeing to a switch.
This episode isn’t anti-advice. It’s pro-careful decision making. So, if you’ve been wondering whether you should respond to one of those ads in your feed, listen first.
LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE OF THE PODCAST HERE:
Highlights of the conversation:
Why those “you’re losing money every day” and “hurry up and switch” super ads are so persuasive and why urgency itself should make you slow down.
What actually happens after you click: the Facebook ad, the form, the quick phone call, and the referral into an advice firm.
Why ASIC has launched a review into advice firms using these lead-generation arrangements, especially where people may be encouraged to switch super unnecessarily.
The real risk: being moved out of a solid, mainstream super fund into something more complex, higher risk, or carrying higher fees.
The hard backdrop to this conversation – the Shield and First Guardian collapses and how switching funnels formed part of that pathway.
Why switching super is one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll make, particularly in your 50s and 60s.
The simplest protection available to you: pause. You can hang up. You can ask for time. You don’t have to decide on the spot.
Why “licensed” doesn’t automatically mean the advice is right for you — and how conflicts and fees sit inside these arrangements.
What I noticed when I went through one of these funnels myself.
What ASIC can actually do when firms breach the law.
From Bec’s Desk
I made the decision to push back this week’s scheduled episode so we could bring you this conversation instead.
When ASIC announced it was deepening a review into advice firms connected to online super switching ads, I knew we needed to talk about it now and not in a few weeks’ time.
This is important and timely. And it deserves proper discussion.
I also want to say this clearly: most good advisers and most super funds don’t like this any more than consumers do. No one benefits when bad actors damage trust in the system. The majority of people working in advice and super care deeply about doing the right thing. Good ones are transparent, open and ethical in their behaviours.
But when something starts to feel systemic, when the ads are everywhere and the pressure is building – it’s time to shine a light on it.
That’s why this episode went to the front of the queue.
This week I’m on the road in Melbourne - and still trying to fit my workouts in between meetings and podcasting. I have to say, I’m not doing real well on the protein counts or the weights sessions this week. But I’ll make up for it with a clean-eating and good-exercising weekend!
I hope you’re doing better than me, I’m off for a Friday afternoon workout to make up for it. Have a great weekend.
And, tell me …
Pop a comment in, if you’ve seen switching or baiting social media ads and have some of your own views to share.
And have a great weekend.
Cheers, Bec Xx
My concern is the fear they cause by stating artificially high “amounts you need to retire”.
This week 2 different ads have told me I will need at least $2m to retire.
Having completed the Epic Retirement course I know what I’m likely to spend in retirement and how much I’ll need to fund that level of spending.
I feel very sorry for the people who see these ads and panic and then get exploited by these companies.
Hi Bec,
Recently, my work hosted a seminar last year from SmartSalary. They had a partner, who recommended a guy he worked with (like your contact in your programme). It seems like it might be a sales technique.
Regards
Alexander