ASIC moves to deregister 25 managed investment schemes within two months

ASIC has given notice that it may deregister 25 registered managed investment schemes two months after publication of a notice in the ASIC Gazette No. A41/26, published on Tuesday 13 October 2026 and dated 9 October 2026. The notice, issued under subsection 601PB(2) of the Corporations Act 2001, names funds associated with BlackRock, Invesco, Mercer and K2, and states they will be deregistered “unless given acceptable reason not to proceed”.

The notice sits in the “Company/scheme deregistrations” section of the gazette, at pages 73 to 75, alongside company reinstatements and changes of company type. It is one of a series of deregistration notices ASIC publishes in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, and it identifies each scheme by name and Australian Registered Scheme Number (ARSN) only.

A separate notice in the same section, made under subsection 601PA(3) of the Corporations Act 2001, covers one further scheme: IPARTNERS MASTER INCOME FUND (ARSN 686 125 502). Both notices carry the same date, the ninth day of October 2026.

The schemes listed under subsection 601PB(2)

The schemes named in the notice are:

• ADVANCE DEFENSIVE YIELD MULTI-BLEND FUND (ARSN 166 771 875)
• AHI DEFINED RETURNS FUND (ARSN 663 942 827)
• ARIA INTERNATIONAL ADVANTAGE FUND (ARSN 676 704 493)
• ARMYTAGE STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITIES FUND (ARSN 114 354 380)
• BLACKROCK GLOBAL CORE EQUITY FUND (AUST) (ARSN 667 813 612)
• BLACKWATTLE GLOBAL QUALITY FUND (ARSN 675 578 462)
• CLEARBRIDGE GLOBAL REAL INCOME FUND (ARSN 641 334 803)
• GRATICULE EQUITY MARKET NEUTRAL FUND (ARSN 631 270 276)
• HYBRID ALTERNATIVE FUND (ARSN 689 003 816)
• INVESCO TRUE BALANCE FUND (ARSN 603 987 015)
• IUNIVERSE (ARSN 671 592 304)
• K2 AUSTRALIAN SMALL CAP FUND (ARSN 166 480 584)
• MANAGED PORTFOLIO SERIES AUSTRALIAN SHARES FUND 4 (ARSN 625 870 402)
• MANAGED PORTFOLIO SERIES AUSTRALIAN SHARES FUND 3 (ARSN 625 870 144)
• MANAGED PORTFOLIO SERIES AUSTRALIAN SHARES FUND 2 (ARSN 625 870 126)
• MANAGED PORTFOLIO SERIES AUSTRALIAN SHARES FUND 1 (ARSN 625 870 117)
• MERCER AUSTRALIAN SHARES PLUS FUND (ARSN 114 026 167)
• MILTON OFFICE TRUST (ARSN 628 273 807)
• MULTI-MANAGER BALANCED FUND (ARSN 098 405 380)
• MULTI-MANAGER CONSERVATIVE FUND (ARSN 098 405 479)
• MULTI-MANAGER GROWTH FUND (ARSN 098 405 308)
• MULTI-MANAGER HIGH GROWTH FUND (ARSN 102 760 896)
• OX CAPITAL DYNAMIC EMERGING MARKETS FUND (ARSN 649 969 264)
• OX CAPITAL EMERGING MARKETS FUND (ARSN 649 969 317)
• Z SERIES CARBON NEUTRAL WORLD EQUITY FUND (ARSN 664 440 813)

The two-month window

The gazette states that ASIC may deregister the schemes two months after publication of the notice, unless acceptable reason is given not to proceed. With publication on 13 October 2026, that period runs to mid-December 2026.

The same section records separate action against foreign companies: ASIC will strike three off the register three months after publication under section 601CL(4), and has already struck off five under section 601CL(5).

Rights of review

The gazette notes that persons affected by certain ASIC decisions under the Corporations Act 2001 may have rights of review, described in Regulatory Guide RG57 and Information Sheet INFO 9. The deregistration notices name no responsible entities or investment managers beyond the scheme names themselves.

For investors and responsible entities, the notice starts a two-month clock: schemes that cannot show cause will be deregistered, and members of the affected funds — from the BlackRock, Invesco, Mercer and K2 vehicles to the four MANAGED PORTFOLIO SERIES AUSTRALIAN SHARES FUNDs — should watch for further notices from ASIC.

Source: ASIC Gazette, No. A41/26, Tuesday 13 October 2026, Company/scheme deregistrations, pp. 73–75 (official reference: a41_26.pdf).