AIOFP platform ambitions unfazed by EQT

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor and Publisher

26 June 2026

The decision by Equity Trustee Holdings to exit its retail superannuation trustee business has prompted the Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals (AIOFP) to reassure members it will not derail the organisation’s upcoming white label platform plans.

AIOFP executive director, Peter Johnston has written in response to member queries that the EQT decision will “have no material impact on DASH other than the fact that a new trustee will ultimately be appointed for DASH’s retail super offering”.

“It is important to recognise that APRA would not permit an orderly wind-down that adversely impacts members. Accordingly, any exit by EQT would require the transfer of Trustee responsibilities to another appropriately licensed Trustee,” Johnston wrote.

“In practical terms, this means that EQT’s role would simply be assumed by a replacement Trustee, with continuity maintained for members and platform operators such as DASH.”

Johnston said that, as a result, AIOFP “do not view this development as creating any material operational or strategic risk for DASH. In any case, DASH are well advanced with replacing EQT anyway regardless of the recent announcement”.

The AIOFP executive director then went on to plug the value of his organisation’s approach stating, “It is important to understand why an Independent Superannuation Trustee is far better for Financial Advisers and their clients than entering into an environment where the Retail Platform Manager [RPM] is both the Trustee and Manager.

“Firstly, the ‘client owns the client’ notion is true regardless of where the client is located the objective is to demonstrate how Financial Advisers can be [and are] marginalised when the Manager is also the Trustee.

“The legal owner of the Superannuation assets is the Trustee, the client is the ‘beneficial owner’ but the Trustee has total control and ownership of the fund and its assets. The Trustees duties are acting in the best interests of the client at all times and in all circumstances, this gives the Trustee enormous power to dictate outcomes with any money related client issue, bar none,” he wrote

“Fair to say Financial Advisers have limited input and no power once their clients enter this environment.

“On the other hand, the RPM has total control of the platform operations unless there are legal agreements in place for Financial Advisers around access to clients, the platform and client communications. “