A third of those passing the adviser exam choose not to practice
In the wake of the latest financial adviser exam results, new analysis has revealed increasing numbers of people who have passed the exam but are choosing not to practice.
The WealthData analysis reveals that 5,096 people are now showing as having passed the exam but are choosing not to practice which is the equivalent of 33.31% of the active advisers.
WealthData principal, Colin Williams said this was up from 28.36% a year ago.
Williams also noted that the numbers who had passed the most recent adviser exam had yet to turn up of the Financial Adviser Register, albeit that there was a net change this week of 17.
157 candidates passed the exam, 20 fewer than the number who passed in March and eight less than in June 2024.
Key Adviser Movements For This Period
- Net change of advisers +17
- Current number of advisers at 15,315
- Net Change Calendar 2025 YTD (-158)*
- Net Change Financial YTD (2025/26) +122
- Net Change Financial Year 2024/25 (-150)
- 36 Licensee Owners had net gains of 47 advisers
- 23 Licensee Owners had net losses for (-36) advisers
- 3 and 1 ceased
- 16 new entrants
- Number of advisers active in this period, appointed / resigned: 94
*Note : Our business model Accounting – Limited Advice (mostly licensees limited to SMSF advice) is down (-133) for the calendar year, which equates to 84.2% of the total net losses.
Growth – Licensee Owners
- WT Financial Group up by net five with three advisers switching licensees from Charter (owned by Entireti & Akumin Group), Dependable Financial Advice and Lifespan. Two others coming back into advice after a short break.
- Count Limited up by net three, appointing four advisers including two new entrants and one each from Lifespan and Sheridans Financial. The adviser that left is not showing a being appointed elsewhere to date
- A new licensee up by net three with two advisers from Havana owned by O & Z Pty Ltd and one new entrant
- Three licensee owners up by net two:
- United Super with one adviser from Synchron Advice owned by WT Financial Group and one adviser coming back after a long break
- RGM Financial with both advisers moving from Akumin, part of the Entireti & Akumin Group.
- Insignia Group with both advisers coming back after short breaks away from Bridges which is also owned by Insignia.
- A tail of 30 licensees up by net one including; Rhombus Advisory, Guideway and the two remaining new licensees.
Losses – Licensee Owners
- MWL Group down by six. One of the advisers was banned by ASIC earlier this week. Three more have left and yet to be appointed elsewhere and two have switched to Findex Group.
- Canny Wealth Services, down by three and now down to zero advisers. The advisers have now formally transferred to WPFP Group
- Entireti & Akumin Group also down by three after losing five advisers and gaining two
- Four licensee owners down by two:
- FSSP Financial Services (Aware Super), both advisers not showing as appointed elsewhere
- Kingsley Davidson and both advisers not showing as appointed elsewhere
- O & Z Pty Ltd, as mentioned above, two advisers starting their own licensee
- Trustee For Lat Family (Australian Financial Freedom). Both advisers are also authorised at Australian Financial Planning Group and are still current at this licensee.
- 16 down by net (-1) including Fiducian, Picture Wealth and Morgans Group.
Th reason most of those people who passed the exam choose not to practice, is bad regulation that makes it too unattractive to be a professional financial planner. Professionals don’t fear good, sensible, regulation that makes things better for consumers. But Australia has way too much bad regulation that just adds to cost and complexity, without providing any benefits for consumers. ASIC’s approach of persecuting and vilifying the innocent majority of advisers, also has huge stress and mental health impacts. Little wonder so many people who are qualified to be professional advisers choose to do other things instead.
I still cannot understand how you can go from being a consumer advocate to being an ASIC Commissioner.
A fact I have been sharing for a while now Mike, there’s not many of us advisers left. And some of us specialize in risk only, some of us in retirement planning only …. No wonder mums and dads are finding it hard to get financial advice. But will the pollies and the AMPs of this world who caused this dire situation take the blame? Of course not.
I think you missed the big elephant in the room…. Banks.
AMP isn’t an advice player anymore if you’ve followed what they did with their licensee groups.
This is why FAAA needs to immediately stop wasting member’s money trying to attract new recruits into financial planning. There is no shortage of people qualified to be advisers.
FAAA needs to be 100% focused on fixing bad regulation. If bad regulation is fixed, many of the qualified people sitting on the sidelines will become professional advisers. Potential new entrants will realise it’s a worthwhile career, and make their own decisions to join without having to be deceived or press ganged by the FAAA.
Worth noting that many of the “qualified people sitting on the sidelines” are authorised with no ambition ever of becoming a financial planner. Most of us qualified but not practicing are product staff, compliance, operations, governance, paraplanners, etc etc who were on the FAR prior to 2019 and wanted to maintain our status while working in the industry.
Why would anyone with a fuctioning brain enter this industry as an adviser, as the legislation/rules currently stand ?
Wait until there are two sets of rules for two different classes of “adviser”. More will leave.
Why would you become a financial planner? It’s a terrible occupation that doesn’t generate enough income for the risk involved, particularly with the upcoming CSLR kicking we will get from First Shield etc.. I’ve told both my kids to join their mother’s accounting practice rather than becoming a financial planner.
If this is telling the regulators the story then they really are incompetent. So much non sense solving nothing. Risk business that underpays for the time and effort required and then a 2 year wait to see if you can maintain what you have earn’t and already spent on compliance
professional accredited advisers having their clients “white anted “ by telephone jockeys and industry fund’s promising cheap expert financial advice ( from whom ) and birthing advertising ridiculing the retail funds with compare the pair adds. Wait until January 2026 ! If you think this exit was big ??? You have seen nothing yet !