I think when they say 'shareholders' they mean shareholders of...

I think when they say 'shareholders' they mean shareholders of AFS, not the Mum's & Dad's who invested via them.

I work in the industry and investments are always held in the name of the investor, not the company who manages it.

AFS could go into administration tomorrow and it should not affect the value of the underlying investments made.

Put it this way, if CBA went broke, would you lose all your shares bought on Commsec? No, you'd just transfer them to another broker.