Karren Vergara is a financial journalist with Financial Standard, covering wealth management, including superannuation, banking and financial planning. She is one of the hosts of the Financial Standard Podcast. Prior to becoming a journalist, Karren was an accountant for more than 10 years. She has a diploma in journalism and Bachelor's degree in business, both from UTS, and was named Financial Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Impact Awards. Connect with Karren Vergara on LinkedIn.
Unspoken debt: The young migrants paying their parents’ bills
Children from migrant backgrounds are often torn between two worlds - strong financial obligations to family and the sky-high cost of living.
Active Super fined $10.5m for greenwashing
Active Super has been fined $10.5 million for falsely claiming it avoided investments in gambling, coal mining, oil tar sands, and Russian companies since the invasion of Ukraine.
ASIC turns up the heat on private markets
ASIC is setting its sights on the private markets sector, flagging it will pay particular attention to the surging popularity of opaque private debt investments.
AustralianSuper fined $27 million for ‘betraying members’
More than 42,000 beneficiaries were affected when AustralianSuper failed to promptly identify and merge members' multiple accounts from 2019 to 2023.
Financial complaints hit record high
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) received a record number of complaints in the 2024 financial year, jumping 9% to more than 105,000.
AustralianSuper bears brunt of complaints: AFCA
AustralianSuper copped the highest number of complaints in the last six months of 2023, nearly three times more than other major super funds like Cbus, Australian Retirement Trust, and Aware Super.
Aussies compensated for dodgy financial advice
The Compensation Scheme of Last Resort has made its first payments to four victims totalling more than $360,000, three of which related to bad financial advice.
Jail for scammers who defrauded early super scheme
Three people will go to prison after pleading guilty to defrauding the COVID-19 early release of superannuation scheme for $103,500.
AFCA to expel Dixon Advisory
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority is set to kick out Dixon Advisory in June, and will no longer accept victim complaints about the company.
Vanguard Super lowers fees
Vanguard Super is reducing its annual administration fees for all members after just 18 months in the market.
