Sam Henderson pleads guilty to lying about qualifications

Embattled former financial adviser Sam Henderson has pleaded guilty to charges brought by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) that he acted dishonestly.

Henderson pleaded guilty to a 'rolled up' charge of dishonest conduct. It had been alleged Henderson had wrongly claimed to hold a Master of Commerce degree, which was included in a financial services guide and displayed in various forms through his interactions with clients.

His book, One-Page Financial Plan: Everything you need to successfully manage your money and invest for wealth creation, is reported to mention the degree.

He is further alleged to have cited the degree to a journalist, and also included it in 115 PowerPoint presentations given to clients.

Henderson had been the focus of a bad advice case study in the banking royal commission, where it was shown that he failed to act in the best interests of his clients. Audio heard at the commission found that Henderson advised a client to leave her super fund and instead set up a self-managed super fund, a move that could've lost her $500,000 of wealth.

In July last year, he was banned by ASIC for three years for failing to act in the best interests of clients, which lost them money or put them at risk of losing money.

The dishonest conduct offence Henderson has pleaded guilty to carries a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment or a fine.

Henderson contributed to Money magazine until 2018.

Get stories like this in our newsletters.