Ex-Spectrum adviser banned for five years

The corporate regulator has banned former Spectrum Wealth adviser, Sean Philip Lewis, for five years after advising most clients to use a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) and providing insurance advice to generate large commissions for himself.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said the Hunter Valley-based adviser failed to comply with financial services law, failed to provide advice that was in the best interests of his clients, and failed to provide advice that was appropriate for his clients’ objectives.

The LRBAs were used to fund the purchase of real property through a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) but Lewis did not assess whether the strategy was appropriate for each of his clients.

“He also did not adequately investigate or offer any alternative investment strategies that may have provided greater diversification of risks,” ASIC said.

ASIC also found when providing insurance advice, Lewis prioritised his own interests over that of clients as the advice would generate large commissions for himself, regardless of whether the recommended products were appropriate for his clients.

Lewis was an authorised representative of Spectrum between December 2013 and June 2018, and was most recently an authorised representative of Consolidated Mercantile Group between July 2019 and January 2020.