Finalisation
Settlement distribution in the Colonial First State Fees Class Action has now concluded. Please read the information below.
Distribution finalised
The Federal Court approved a $100 million settlement on 5 August 2024, following the settlement approval hearing in mid-2024.
Settlement distribution to all eligible Group Members began in late 2024 and has recently concluded. Colonial First State was responsible for distributing the settlement to Group Members.
Eligible Group Members were paid their entitlements via one of the following options:
1. Payment into an active superannuation account
This option will apply if:
- the Group Member has an active superannuation account in the FirstChoice Fund; or
- the Group Member transferred or rolled over their superannuation to another fund in the 12 months prior to the distribution being paid; and
- the instructions the Group Member provided when transferring or rolling over their superannuation are valid.
If the settlement distribution was paid into an active Colonial superannuation account, the credited amount will be shown on the next periodic member statement issued by Colonial following the distribution.
2. Directly to Group Member
This option will apply if:
- the Group member had already cashed out their superannuation (for example: they have retired); and
- the FirstChoice Fund account was closed in the 12 months prior to the share being paid; and
- the instructions the Group Member provided when closing the account are valid.
3. A Trustee Voluntary Payment (TVP) to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
Other Eligible Group Members were paid by Colonial making a trustee voluntary payment (TVP) to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in accordance with the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Act 1999 (Cth) if Colonial reasonably believes paying the amount to the ATO would be in the best interests of the relevant Group Member.
If TVPs are made to the ATO, the ATO will reunite the payments with the relevant Group Members. Group Members who are paid via a TVP should contact the ATO directly.
Colonial has issued a remittance notice to Group Members who received distributions in accordance with the second and third options above.
Please note that distributions were not made to Group Members with an entitlement of less than $20 because the costs of facilitating the payment would have been greater than the distribution. We are not able to advise individual Group Members of their entitlements.
What was the Colonial First State Fees Class Action about?
The core allegations of the class action were that Colonial First State were charging some members excessive fees to fund ongoing commissions to financial advisers. It was alleged that, by paying ongoing commissions to financial advisers and charging higher fees as a result, in circumstances where there was no entitlement to any ongoing service linked to these fees, these members lost substantial amounts of their superannuation.
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If you have a question about the class action, make an enquiry now. Please note, we are currently experiencing a high volume of enquiries. Our team will be in touch as soon as possible.