Victorian financial adviser Nicholas Hogan has been banned by ASIC from the financial services industry for four years after the regulator found he failed to act in clients’ best interests and engaged in misleading, deceptive and unprofessional conduct in connection with superannuation switching advice.
The four-year banning order took effect in December 2025. Hogan later applied to the Administrative Review Tribunal for a review, stay and confidentiality order, but withdrew the application. The ART confirmed the matter was dismissed.
What ASIC found
ASIC said Hogan impersonated other advisers, knowingly had statements of advice prepared by others in his name, and presented SOAs in the name of other advisers to clients of Venture Egg and Reilly Financial with limited interaction between himself and the clients.
The regulator said he gave advice to four clients to switch their superannuation funds using a process that outsourced core steps, including the fact find and risk profile assessment, to an unlicensed third-party referral partner.
ASIC also found that Hogan gave predetermined advice outcomes based on a template SOA. That template recommended clients switch their existing superannuation to Netwealth and retain a standard sum of $10,000 in each existing fund for insurance purposes.
Career timeline
Hogan commenced his professional year training in February 2022 under the supervision of Ferras Merhi at Ferras Merhi Pty Ltd and United Financial Advice Pty Ltd, known as Venture Egg. He became an authorised representative of Interprac Financial Planning Pty Ltd under Venture Egg’s corporate authorised representative structure in September 2022, then moved to Rhys Reilly Pty Ltd trading as Reilly Financial in March 2023.
Broader regulatory context
The case lands alongside ASIC’s wider push against superannuation switching practices built on lead generation and referral funnels. In February, the regulator announced a new review of advice licensees that use lead generation services, saying it was concerned that some practices may expose consumers to losses.
ASIC’s own media release on the Hogan ban links the case to its Information Sheet 182 on super switching advice, connecting individual adviser misconduct with the regulator’s current supervision priorities.
The ban has been recorded on ASIC’s Financial Advisers Register and the Banned and Disqualified register. Consumers with concerns about advice they received can lodge a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
