Adviser numbers steadily stay above 15,600

Amid continuing merger and acquisitions activity on the part of financial advice licensees, financial adviser numbers appear to have settled at over 15,600.

The latest analysis from WealthData has revealed that there are currently 15,688 advisers on the Financial Adviser Register (FR) which represents a 111 adviser decrease for the calendar year but a 129 increase in financial year to date terms.

The adviser count experienced a notable dip, influenced primarily by the Macquarie Group’s releasing 9 advisers.

According to WealthData principal, Colin Wiliams, this week saw a low influx of new entrants, with only 2 joining the industry – one of the smallest numbers recorded this year.

Key Adviser Movements This Week:

• Net change of advisers (-12)
• Current number of advisers at 15,688
• Net Change of (-111) for Calendar YTD
• Net Change Financial YTD +129
• 24 Licensee Owners had net gains of 33 advisers
• 23 Licensee Owners had net losses for (-44) advisers
• 3 New licensee and 2 ceased
• 2 New entrants.
• Number of advisers active this week, appointed / resigned: 75

Growth This Week – Licensee Owners

• Centrepoint picked up 3 advisers at Alliance Wealth. Notably, 2 advisers were onboarded from a small ‘Micro AFSL’, Bough Financial, which has now ceased operations (down to zero advisers)
• 6 licensee owners were up by 2 each including:
  • WT Financial Group picking up 1 adviser at Sentry and Synchron, both advisers from different licensees
  • Spark Financial Group, picking up both advisers from Australian Investment and Insurance Group
  • Industry Super Holdings who picked up 3 advisers and lost 1
  • Diverger with one each at GPS Wealth and Paragem
  • Sentinel Wealth, who picked up 2 advisers from different licensees
  • A new licensee with advisers departing Reedy Capital
• A tail of 17 licensee owners up net 1 each including Clime Group, Australian Retirement Trust, AMP Group who picked up 2 advisers from Capstone and lost 1 adviser. The remaining 2 new licensees started with one adviser each.

Losses This Week – Licensee Owners

• Macquarie Group down by (-9). At the licensee level, Macquarie bank and Macquarie Equities lost 7 advisers each. However, most of the advisers were authorised at both licensees. A breakdown can be found at Dashboard 1b of Adviser Fast facts
• Capstone down by (-4), bringing the losses to (-13) for the month and (-17) for the last 3 months. See dashboard 2B Adviser Fast Facts
• Insignia down by (-3), all three are showing as ceased and are from 3 different licensees owned by Insignia
• Mercer also down (-3), all advisers yet to be appointed elsewhere
• 6 licensee owners down (-2) each including Viridian, Picture Wealth and sequoia
• A tail of 12 licensee owners down by (-1) each including Castleguard Trust (Lifespan), Shaw and Partners and Count Group.