Geelong-based broker Chartwell Enterprises ceased trading yesterday, raising fears that retail investors have lost millions, the Geelong Advertiser reports.

The paper writes it spoke to many investors who said they had received personal phone calls telling them the company was in financial difficulty.

It quotes an email from director Graeme Hoy to 23 investors as saying: "Chartwell has gone into receivership and voluntary administration. I am sorry.''

About 40 staff were stunned to learn they no longer had jobs and Mr Hoy sought help from administrators, according to the receiver of Mr Hoy's failed hospitality company Black Swan Holdings.

Rod Slattery, from insolvency specialists PPB, who acted as the receiver for Black Swan, said he was still waiting for Chartwell's financial information to ensure the failed hospitality company was not draining the share trading company's cash.

Some had invested their life savings with the promise of returns as high as 70%, depending on their contribution, according to documents seen by the newspaper.

Distraught investors and staff yesterday trashed the company's Ryrie St offices as they searched for clues about what happened to up to $70 million of investor cash, the paper writes.

ASIC, the corporate watchdog, is also believed to be investigating the company's financial woes but hadn't confirmed this.

BusinessDay, The age