Financial Adviser Market Insights, Jan 16, 2025

Adviser Numbers Increased By +13 For The Week, Moving From 15,481 to 15,494

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The second week of reports shows good news: adviser numbers increased by 13 this week, with a total rise of 17 for the year. As usual at the start of a new year, most resignations were recorded last year, and new appointments began in the new year.

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Key Adviser Movements For This Period

  • Net change of advisers +13

  • Current number of advisers at 15,494

  • Net Change Calendar 2024 (-145)

  • Net Change Calendar 2025 YTD +17

  • Net Change Financial YTD +153

  • 26 Licensee Owners had net gains of 41 advisers

  • 15 Licensee Owners had net losses for (-21) advisers

  • 2 new licensees commenced and zero ceased

  • 16 New entrants

  • Number of advisers active in this period, appointed / resigned: 68.

Growth - Licensee Owners

  • Arthur J Gallagher & Co (Gallagher Benefit Services), up by eight, all advisers are currently still authorised at Mont Partners which currently has 21 advisers (including the eight affected advisers this week)

  • Entireti up by four - another interesting week for Entireti, hiring five advisers which included four new entrants and losing one adviser to Sentry Advice, owned by WT Financial Group. Of interest, AMP Financial Planning hired three of the new entrants and that helped them to leapfrog Morgans to once again be the largest individual licensee with 430 advisers, one ahead of Morgans.

  • Five licensee owners up by net two:

    • Oreana up by two, one new entrant and what may be a bit of alignment with an existing adviser ceasing and restarting.

    • Lifespan with one adviser from Bridges, still owned by Insignia, and one from Count

    • Capstone with both advisers from Count

    • AD Financial with one adviser from Madison owned by Infocus and one new entrant

    • New Licensee with both advisers coming back after a break of several months from Findex

  • A tail of 19 licensee owners up by net one each including WT Financial Group, Sequoia, Insignia and the remaining new licensee.

Losses - Licensee Owners

  • Count Limited down by net six, with one loss from GPS Wealth and five from Count. Of the six losses, three have been appointed elsewhere (noted above).

  • Picture Wealth down by two, both advisers not showing as being appointed elsewhere

  • A small tail of just 13 licensee owners down by net one including Centrepoint, Rhombus and Findex.


Authorised Advisers Versus Actual Advisers
Sometimes, we receive calls about differences between our data and their calculations from the ASIC Financial Adviser Register (FAR). Most of these differences arise because some financial advisers are authorised under more than one licensee, often with the same owner. Occasionally, advisers are authorised multiple times, at the same licensees but under different Corporate Authorised Representatives (CARs).

We aim to count each adviser only once. For example, our data reports 15,494 actual advisers, while FAR lists 15,867 authorisations, a difference of 373. We refer to these authorisations as 'roles'. There are currently 21 advisers authorised three times and 331 advisers authorised twice.

This method can create a little confusion; for instance, Macquarie Group shows 105 actual advisers, but they have 98 at Macquarie Bank and 62 at Macquarie Equities, totalling 160. Out of these, 55 advisers are authorised at both licensees. See chart below.

While this isn't a major issue and there are many reasons for multiple authorisations, it would be confusing for the end consumer who is seeking advice.

Snippet of Dashboard 11 from Licensee Deep Dive Set of Dashboards

Colin Williams

Colin is the founder of Wealth Data. A career spanning 30 years in financial services, mostly in general manager positions and consulting roles with a focus on financial advice.

https://wealthdata.com.au/
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2024 Financial Adviser Market In Review

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Financial Adviser Market Insights, Jan 9, 2025