Surprising EOFY rush of adviser exits
The end of financial year effect is biting hard into financial adviser numbers with 56 exiting the Financial Adviser Register (FAR) this week bringing to 97 the number of have been logged as leaving in the past two weeks.
WealthData principal, Colin Williams said that adviser numbers traditionally fell in the lead-up to the end of financial year but he was surprised at the volume leaving with 30 June not having yet been reached.
He noted that as a result of the latest exits, adviser numbers had dipped below 15,500 to stand at just 15,488.
However, Williams said that put in context the growth for Financial Year To Date is at +143, Calendar Year To Date +12, and the last 12 months (-57).
“So far for June 2025, 140 advisers have resigned and not been reappointed,” Williams said.
Key Adviser Movements For This Period
- Net change of advisers (-56)
- Current number of advisers at 15,488
- Net Change Calendar 2025 YTD +12
- Net Change Financial YTD +143
- 12 Licensee Owners had net gains of 13 advisers
- 38 Licensee Owners had net losses for (-70) advisers
- Zero new licensees and three ceased
- Four new entrants
- Number of advisers active in this period, appointed / resigned: 93.
Growth – Licensee Owners
- Centrepoint Group, up by two, with advisers switching from Akumin, part of the Entireti & Akumin Group.
- 11 licensee owners grew by one including NAB Group, Infocus and Solomons Wealth Management.
- Of interest – Australian Retirement Trust (ART Group) have continued to authorise advisers to work across both of their licensees, these being Sunsuper and QInvest. As a result, Sunsuper gained 10 advisers this week on top of the 25 last week. However, net change at ART Group is zero.
Losses – Licensee Owners
Note: Unless otherwise stated, the advisers contributing to the losses have not been appointed elsewhere to date.
- Count Limited down by (-14), with seven of those losses at Merit Wealth which provides mostly limited advice. Merit Wealth currently have 64 advisers and have lost (-53) for the current financial year to date. Count Limited also lost four at Count Financial, two at Paragem and one at GPS Wealth.
- Four licensee owners down by net four each:
- Entireti & Akumin Group with two joining Centrepoint Group from Akumin, and losing one adviser each at Charter and Fortnum.
- Jason Valentine Davis (Avana Financial Solutions), four adviser losses
- Lifespan lost six advisers and gained two. One adviser coming back after a break and another gained from Capstone.
- Rhombus losing two at RI Advice and two at Consultum
- Arthur J Gallagher & Co (Gallagher Benefit Services) down by three
- Five licensee owners down by two
- Capstone with one adviser joining Lifespan
- Fiducian
- Picture Wealth
- Pilot Wealth
- Wealth Services Partners
- A long tail of 27 licensee owners down by net one including Shaw and Partners, Macquarie Group and HNW Group Holdings. The three licensees that ceased all only had the one adviser.
Advisers avoiding being hit for another year of Levies from ASIC $3k or more and CSLR who would know ? $3k, $5k, $10k or $25k or more per Adviser.
Happens every year. Adviser numbers can only be judged on a rolling 12 month basis.
It’s not over yet wait until December ?!!
@Nuffyland
I love your optimism, but this is a perennial trend downwards that’s been occurring over the past 4-5 years.
It won’t matter when these people pull the plug.
You can bet before the end of 2026 there will be at least another 200 + advisers leave the profession due to the continuing education requirements now being imposed.
What incentive does any practice have to take on & pay an “intern” graduate somewhere between $65,000 -$80,000 just to make coffees for 12 months?
Would any of your clients be willing to take on that exercise with no ROI.
There is no guarantee that an adviser with a newly minted Batchelor’s degree will provide decent or better advice than a 30-year-old veteran in the industry.
Quite frankly, the profession/industry is going to miss that large cave of knowledge and experience, and it’s only a question of time before governments and vested interests “kill off” who’s left.