Blog post by Empower Wealth

The Truth About Trust Structures for Property Investment: Why Most Aussies Should Proceed With Caution

If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, you’ve probably seen the rise of finfluencers, “property educators”, Buyers Agencies and Mortgage Brokers promoting trust structures for property investment as the secret to building mega wealth faster.

The messaging can sound pretty convincing:

“Unlock unlimited borrowing.”
“Buy more properties, more quickly.”
“Reduce your tax.”
“Here’s what the wealthy don’t want you to know.”

It’s spruiking, it’s packaged well, it spreads quickly… because who wouldn’t want what’s being promised – Retire rich! Retire Earlier! And for everyday Australians trying to get ahead, it can feel like the missing piece they’ve been looking for.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth:

behind the glossy marketing is a growing risk that most investors aren’t being told about.

Over the past few months, the Property Investors Council of Australia (PICA) — chaired by our Managing Director, Ben Kingsley — has issued its strongest warning yet. PICA has written to all real estate, mortgage broking, buyers agent and property investment association across the country, calling out the rise in unlicensed advice, get-rich-quick trust strategies, and aggressive marketing tactics that could put investors — and the broader housing market — in harm’s way. Learn more about this letter here >

This isn’t a niche issue.
It’s not a difference of opinion.
It’s speculation.
It’s a national warning sign.

And at Empower Wealth, we share the same concerns — not only as licensed professionals, but as a business built on helping Australians achieve financial freedom in a safe, sustainable way.

That’s why we’ve put this blog together:

To cut through the noise, unpack what’s really happening, and give you a clear, balanced understanding of when trust structures do make sense… and when they most certainly don’t.

Why Trust Structures Can Be Risky for Most Property Investors

While trusts have a legitimate place in certain niche cases, the vast majority of everyday Australians face increased downsides risk when using them to purchase residential investment property.

Here’s what you’re often not told:

Higher lending costs and fewer lender options: Banks assess trust lending differently and often apply stricter terms, higher interest rates, or reduced product options.
Trapped losses: Tax losses within a trust usually cannot be offset against personal income.
Higher operation and compliance costs: Set-up fees, ongoing annual trust tax return fees, legal responsibilities and ongoing management costs can run into the thousands each year, per trust
Self-interest: If they were that good an idea to invest in property, why do the vast majority avoid them? The real winners are the businesses earning the extra fees.
More complexity, more admin, more paperwork: Most investors don’t want the additional burden of running corporate trustees, legal filings, or compliance obligations.
Location & Asset Selection Quality: The more that flock into this space, the poorer the quality of location and asset selection.

The bottom line?
A trust structure rarely improves your ability to build wealth safely or sustainably.
For most people, it makes the journey more expensive, and far more complicated.

What PICA Is Warning the Industry About

In its detailed industry letter, PICA highlights five key concern areas that directly affect consumers:

Get-rich-quick property advertising — social media content promising instant returns or fast wealth creation.
Unlicensed advice in Trusts & SMSFs — recommendations being made by people who are not licensed financial advisers (which is illegal).
Buyer’s Agents behaving outside their qualifications — including encouraging ownership restructuring purely to increase leverage.
Short-term speculation threatening affordability — especially in lower-priced markets where investors are being pushed en masse.
Sel Interest, hidden fees and conflicted remuneration — including referral kickbacks, trust establishment fees and commissions.

PICA’s warnings have already gained national attention — including coverage on Nine News.
You can watch the story here >

We also unpacked the issue in detail on The Property Couch podcast:
https://thepropertycouch.com.au/ep563-property-crash-surefire-collapse-market/

And just a few weeks after PICA’s letter was circulated, Macquarie Bank and Commonwealth Banks paused all new trust and company lending for residential mortgages, citing these exact concerns.

Ben Kingsley, as Chair of PICA, summarised the issue clearly:

“We remain concerned about operators promising unsuspecting consumers access to ‘unlimited borrowings’ through multiple trusts or companies — all on the false promise of fast and easy wealth creation.”

The Psychology Behind Why People Fall for Trust-Based Strategies

From our conversations with clients, people are often drawn to these types of investment promotions because they feel:

behind financially
impatient to become financially free
fearful of missing out
unsure if they can build a portfolio otherwise
pressured by social media success stories
convinced there’s a “silver bullet” solution

This is precisely why aggressive success or hidden secrets marketing campaigns are so persuasive.

But as our team says internally:

If we spend all our time explaining why other strategies don’t work — and not enough time explaining why a proven long-term, lower risk strategy does — the message won’t land.

So let’s explain the alternative.

**The Long-Term Path That Does Work**

Financial freedom doesn’t come from loopholes, shortcuts, hidden secrets or high-risk strategies.
It comes from:

buying high-quality investment-grade properties
using safe, sustainable borrowing levels
managing cash flow with discipline
building assets gradually over time
following a documented financial plan
holding for the long term

You do not need a lot of properties in multiple trusts or companies structure to achieve this.
You need a tailored and sensible strategy and data backed plan grounded in numbers, proven principles and your unique personal goals.

Across our team, our position regarding trust or company entities is consistent and unified:

For Residential Property

99% NO —Not required
1% YES — Only in very specific, long-standing, professionally guided circumstances where:

the client has verifiable asset protection requirements
the client already works with an existing Financial Planner
the strategy aligns with long-term wealth & estate planning needs
it is not influenced by marketing, peers or finfluencers
the client fully understands the complexity, implications and ongoing commitments
lending, tax, and advice all align directly with the client’s best interest and goals

At Empower Wealth, we do not take on clients whose primary motivation is:

avoiding borrowing limits to amass high debt exposures
building a large portfolio fast
seeking tax loopholes
blindly following their favorite TikTok/Instagramer Finfluencer

This is not a service we offer, nor a pathway we support for 99% of our clients.

Final Thoughts: Don’t Let “Get Rich Fast” Hype or “Unlimited Borrowing” Messaging Derail Your Future

Ask yourself this question – if this is what I should be doing, why do less than 5% do it this way and 95% don’t? And if they buy multiple properties quickly, what and where are they buying? Is it a question of quantity vs quality?

The hype around trust structures for property investment is spreading quickly — fast enough that regulators, major lenders and industry bodies can no longer ignore it.

With PICA sounding the alarm, Macquarie Bank stepping away from trust-lending, and ASIC now taking an interest in this space, our message is crystal clear:

Be extremely cautious of anyone selling trusts as a pathway to fast, easy property wealth.
These approaches can be complex, costly, and create long-lasting consequences that are difficult to unwind.

If you’re unsure whether a structure is right for you, seek independent, licensed and conflict-free guidance — not marketing or property spruiking dressed up as “property/lending education”.

And if you’re concerned, as we are, about the increasingly unscrupulous activity in this space, we encourage you to stand with the organisation leading the push for transparency, ethics and sustainable investing.

Become a PICA member: https://pica.asn.au/

Finally, if you want clarity, confidence and a long-term plan grounded in your data and what’s in your best interest — not hype — our integrated team can help you cut through the noise and build a genuine pathway towards financial freedom. Or if you would like to speak to our Property Planning or Financial Planning Team on which ownership structure and investment strategy best suits your circumstances, we’d love to help as well. Learn about our free and no-obligation initial consultation here or fill in the form below and we’ll get in touch.

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Categories: Property Investment Advice