EQT strategic review opens super trustee exit option

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor/Publisher, Financial Newswire

20 February 2026

Equity Trustees has used its half year results to flag the possibility of exiting its Superannuation Trustee Services (STS) which is currently the focus of regulatory action around the collapse of the Shield Master Trust.

The company announced it was undertaking a “strategic review” of the business focused on the “optimal capital allocation of the group” with a time-frame of between six and 12 months.

In doing so, the company used its accompanying investor briefing to note that the STS business operates at lower margins than  its Trustee Wealth Services (TWS) and Corporate Trustee Services (CTS) businesses, and stating that “elevated pace of regulator led change and reviews, particularly for platform-based Superannuation funds [is] creating uncertainty over cost base and risk”.

It also noted that there was a preference on the part of larger scale superannuation funds to utilise the inhouse trustee model.

In its announcement to the ASX, Equity Trustees noted the “Shield/First Guardian” impact stating that $1 million of legal and advisor costs had been allocated in the first half to defend the ASIC costs net of insurance and that a further $1.1 million of adviser and consultancy costs had been allocated to “enhance Superannuation governance processes and respond to regulatory notices”.

Aside from the strategic review announcement, the underlying message from the EQT board was that the business is in sound condition with solid fundamentals.

It pointed to a net profit after tax (NPAT) up 67% over the prior corresponding period to $20.5 million with the company’s managing director, Mick O’Brien saying it had successfully embedded the value of its Australian Executor Trustees (AET) acquisition while growing its portfolio of health and personal injury clients.

The announcement said the Corporate and Superannuation Trustee Services (CSTS) business continued to grow with over 40 new responsible entity and 30 new custody appointments on-boarded.

O’Brien’s statement said that the ASIC litigation against ETSL had required additional management focus and impacted the division’s profit margins.

“The EQT Holdings Board continually assesses the external environment and internal performance of each of the Group’s business segments. Given the dynamics of the Superannuation market, a strategic review of the Superannuation Trustee Services business is underway.

“The strategic review will take into account the future cashflows and goodwill of the business,” O’Brien said.