Prominent financial planner Sam Henderson has been banned by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for three years.

The ban is unlikely to affect Mr Henderson, who has retired from the industry and – according to Sydney media reports – now runs an online business called Creative Hampers.

ASIC’s investigation found he failed to act in the best interests of his clients, provide appropriate advice or prioritise his client’s interests when providing that advice. He also failed to properly investigate and assess a client’s existing deferred benefit superannuation products, which led to a loss of several thousand dollars when that client rolled over their deferred benefit.

Fair Work Commissioner Donna McKenna was a client of Mr Henderson’s, and testified at the Hayne Royal Commission that his advice to roll over her deferred benefit superannuation product would have led to the immediate loss of $500,000.

An employee at Mr Henderson’s company, Henderson Maxwell, also impersonated Ms Mckenna to get details from her super fund. That testimony led to ASIC’s investigation.

Mr Henderson was once feted in the financial advice community, with his firm winning the Association of Financial Advisers’ financial planning practice of the year award in 2016. He also hosted a show on Sky News, was a guest on TV shows and published a series of newspaper columns.

The Financial Planning Association’s Conduct Review Commission imposed more than $50,000 in fines on him last November for breaching its Code of Professional Practice. However, he had already left the association and retired from the industry.

ASIC says Mr Henderson failed to property document or investigate his client’s existing products, failed to provide specific advice relevant to clients, and recommended the use of in-house products without providing product comparisons or justifications for switching.

He also used his self-managed superannuation fund to invest in Managed Account Holdings, which then provided discretionary account services to Henderson Maxwell. “This caused Henderson Maxwell to breach its obligations when it failed to inform clients about the conflict of interest”.