Count exits limited advice

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor and Publisher

5 June 2026

Count Limited has exited providing restricted self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) advice services resulting in being the major contributor to the loss of 35 advisers from the Financial Adviser Register this week.

Count shed 26 advisers, with the bulk departing from its Merit Wealth license.

The latest analysis from Padua’s WealthData noted that it had confirmed the reasons behind the exits with Count and said that, as a result, the company had slipped form being the third largest advice group to fourth, exchanging places with WT Financial Group.

Count now has 527 advisers, with WT Financial having 529.

The limited SMSF advice-related exits continue a two-year trend which have seen the so-called accountants limited licensing segment accounting for the most exits from the FAR.

WealthData noted that the segment had declined from 330 as at 1 December, last year, to just 164.

Key Adviser Movements for the Week

• 15,135 current advisers
• Net change of advisers: (-35)
• New Entrants: 11
• 29 licensee owners had net gains
• 32 licensee owners had net losses
• 1 licensee reduced to zero advisers (Damien Grist Pty Ltd)
• Net Change Calendar 2026 YTD: +81
• Net Change Financial Year 2025/26 YTD: (-34)
• Net change last 12 months: (-429)

Growth – Licensee Owners

• Capstone Financial Planning up by three (net). Capstone absorbed four advisers leaving Count’s Merit Wealth licensee, each of whom had been at Merit Wealth since 2016 or 2017. One Capstone departure offset the gain.
• Janus Financial up by three, all joining First Financial. All three came out of the Damien Grist licensee as it wound up (see Losses).
• Ord Minnett Group up by three, two are new entrants to the register and the third joined from Lipman Burgon and Partners.
• Three licensee owners each up by two: Bell Financial Group both new entrants, Dale Gerreyn (Blackcrest Group) also new entrants, and PSK Group who gained one adviser each from Personal Financial Services owned by Entireti & Akumin Group and FYG Planners.
• A tail of 23 licensee owners up by net one each, including Fiducian Financial Group, Morgans Group and Invest Blue — several of them new entrants.

Losses – Licensee Owners

• Count Limited down by 26 — the week’s dominant move and almost the entire net decline. Twenty-two of the departures came from the Merit Wealth licensee under the “Accounting – Limited Advice” model, with a further seven from GPS Wealth. Count has now withdrawn from restricted SMSF / limited-advice services.
• Sequoia Group down by nine, all from InterPrac Financial Planning. Four reappointed elsewhere during the week — joining Akumin (Entireti), Gill and Co Advisory (Phillip Alexander), Lifespan and Guideway — while the remaining five are not yet reappointed. Sequoia now sits at 152 advisers, down from 282 at the start of the year.
• Damien Grist Pty Ltd down by three and reduced to zero advisers. The licensee wound up, with all three advisers moving to First Financial under Janus (see Growth).
• Centrepoint Group down by three losing four advisers who have not been appointed elsewhere and gaining one from Adrians Wealth Management
• Several licensee owners down by two: Evans Dixon, Rhombus Enterprises, Macquarie Group, Clime Group and the Mancell Family Trust (FYG Planners).
• A tail of 23 licensee owners down by net one each.