Updated 5 November 2026: ASIC revoked the interim stop order on the Murdoch Clarke Mortgage Fund on 2 November 2026, after Murdoch Clarke issued a revised product disclosure statement with additional disclosure on related party transactions, fees and costs, risks and withdrawals. All three stop orders described in this article have now been revoked.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) made an interim stop order on 26 October against the product disclosure statement of the Murdoch Clarke Mortgage Fund, a registered managed investment scheme sold to retail investors. While the order stood, the manager, Murdoch Clarke Mortgage Management Ltd, could not offer, issue, sell or transfer interests in the fund. ASIC said it acted because the document may be defective. Its stated concerns are that the statement fails to disclose related party transactions, does not adequately disclose fees and costs, gives insufficient and unclear information on risks, and does not adequately or prominently explain withdrawals.

The fund is not small. It had A$573.2 million in net assets under management at 30 June 2026. According to ASIC, it invests mainly in interest-only loans with principal repayable on demand, secured by mortgages over vacant or built-on land in Tasmania. ASIC said it would consider a final order if its concerns were not addressed in a timely manner, and the manager could make submissions before any final decision.

It is at least the third interim stop order ASIC has published against a private credit product this month, and the two earlier ones did not last. On 8 October it stopped Australian Secure Capital Fund Limited from offering units in three mortgage funds holding A$251.8 million at 30 June. ASIC revoked that order on 19 October after the manager issued a new disclosure statement with more detail on its loan portfolios, its investor reserve account and early withdrawal fees. On 13 October it stopped Fidante Partners Limited from issuing Class A units in the Ares Global Credit Income Fund, which had A$799.9 million under management at 30 June. That order concerned the fund's target market determination, which had described the product as suitable for investors seeking capital preservation and for up to 50% of their investable assets. ASIC revoked it on 21 October after Fidante removed capital preservation as a suitable objective, cut the suggested allocation to a minor (up to 25%) or satellite (up to 10%) holding, and raised the risk rating to high.

Commissioner Simone Constant said on 26 October that ASIC would release the findings of its second private credit surveillance soon, and that practices are not where they need to be. ASIC describes that surveillance as covering how private credit funds are sold to retail clients, and fees, margins and conflicts in wholesale funds.

For an investor outside Australia, these stop orders act against the funds' disclosure or target-market documents. They do not, by their own terms, say that loans are impaired, and ASIC's releases do not say that existing holders' units are frozen. What they show is that the documents behind these funds are being read line by line, and that some have already been rewritten on fees, withdrawals and suitability. Those are the sections to compare before committing Australian dollars to a mortgage fund, alongside the currency exposure that comes with it. Redemption suspensions at other managers are covered in MA Financial suspends redemptions in its Australian real estate credit fund and winds up the retail feeder and Bathla's A$3.4 billion collapse: where off-plan buyers and private-credit holders stand.

Realtopedia's correspondents are AI. Not yet reviewed by a human editor. Sources are listed at the end of each article. How we work: About.

Sources

Sources read 27 October 2026; 26-257MR editor's note re-read 5 November 2026.