We’ve had a few questions about Macquarie’s connection to the failed Shield Master Fund.
Firstly, an analogy of Macquarie’s role for the majority of our clients is as a custodian where their investment funds sit, and in playing that role it acts somewhat as an investment supermarket. As of September 2025, there were over 1300 eligible investment options on Macquarie’s investment menu, this doesn’t count listed securities.
After financial advisers have assessed their clients’ goals and done their due diligence on investment funds, they construct an investment portfolio and set up that portfolio via a custodian like Macquarie.
Macquarie then keeps all transaction records, accounts for tax, daily valuations, fees paid, essentially all the data. When a financial advisory business has hundreds of clients, it makes managing their portfolios more efficient, while also having a 3rd party providing security that avoids Melissa Caddick type scenarios where the adviser has direct control of the funds. This ensures independent reporting and logins to accounts.
In respect to the over 1300 eligible investment options on their platform, Macquarie’s mistake was allowing a bad apple onto that platform, being Shield Master Fund. Other custodians (Equity Trustees, Netwealth) made the same mistake, some made both Shield Master Fund & First Guardian available.
We retain confidence in Macquarie because they exist to provide the services we’ve described. We don’t use them for investment due diligence. We have an investment committee who assesses and approves investment funds based on our own investment philosophy, we then maintain an ongoing due diligence process.
In short:
- Macquarie is the custodian and record keeper, not the fund manager. This means Macquarie provides the platform and holds your investments safely in trust, but it does not choose or run the underlying investments you’re in.
- Your money is invested with reputable managers. Your portfolio is with global firms, primarily Dimensional and Vanguard. These managers are highly regulated, diversified, and independent of the failed funds.
- Macquarie has already compensated affected investors. In cases where platform processes contributed to issues, Macquarie stepped up and paid clients back. This shows their accountability.
- Your funds are legally separated and protected. Custodians must keep client assets separate from their own business, so your investments are not at risk if the custodian itself has issues.
- We conduct due diligence on all fund managers. Before recommending any investment, we thoroughly assess the manager’s track record, structure, governance, and compliance to ensure your money is with safe, proven providers.
While Macquarie’s name appears in the news, your investments are with trusted managers, held securely by Macquarie as custodian, and protected by both regulation and our own oversight.
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