Embattled financial adviser Sam Henderson appears to have lost the public support of one of his key investors after a leading Australian adviser network yesterday moved to distance its operations from the troubled Henderson Maxwell business.AZ Next Generation Advisory Limited (AZ NGA), which announced in December that it had entered a "binding agreement" to acquire Henderson's national operation, has erased all references to the "Henderson Maxwell" brand on its website.AZ NGA was established in 2014 by ANZ Bank's former head of financial advice, Paul Barrett, and has since won funding from the Italian-listed wealth services giant, Azimut.On 11 December last year Barrett - the chief executive officer - said in a press release that AZ NGA had acquired Henderson Maxwell after it had stumped up a cash and share swap offer.However, AZ NGA yesterday removed all references to Henderson Maxwell from its website, including the seminal press release that revealed details of the buyout deal.Despite these moves, the ASIC registry last night still showed that a company known as Henderson Maxwell No.2 Pty Ltd was listed as a subsidiary of AZ NGA. And the Italian website for Azimut was, as of last night, still indicating that HM was valued by AZ NGA at about A$11.6 million, with 51 per cent of the sale price to be paid in cash to the founding partners of HM over two years.Evidence presented to the Hayne Royal Commission indicates that Sam Henderson negotiated the deal with AZ NGA while the Financial Planning Association was investigating a complaint about the advice that Henderson Maxwell gave to a Sydney client, Donna McKenna. The royal commission heard on Tuesday that one of Henderson's staff impersonated McKenna in phone calls made to a public sector superannuation fund and that Henderson's errant advice would have forced his client to forego $500,000 in superannuation benefit.The damaging evidence submitted to the commission's hearings has raised the prospect of civil legal action against Henderson Maxwell, which has put AZ NGA in the line of fire given its announcement in December of having acquired the now-troubled business.AZ NGA's equity interest in Henderson Maxwell might mean it is legally exposed for misconduct and advice errors that imperilled client's assets.Banking Day last night sought comment from Barrett and Azimut's Milan-based media relations executive Viviana Merotto but neither had responded to requests for information before today's publishing deadline.The uncertainty surrounding the ownership of Henderson Maxwell intensified on Thursday as the Hayne inquiry heard evidence that the Financial Planning Association wrote to the royal commission earlier this month to request that Henderson not be named as the target of McKenna's complaint.In a letter from FPA executive John Bacon, the royal commission was asked to treat McKenna's complaint confidentially because it could "cause significant damage to the reputation of Mr Henderson".