Financial Adviser Market Insights, October 22, 2026
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Adviser numbers rose by 7 for the week, moving from 15,183 to 15,190
A third consecutive week of gains, and it came in a week of the year that usually goes backwards.
Adviser numbers rose by 7 to 15,190, extending gains to a third straight week and the fourth in five.
Movement was spread widely, with 23 licensee owners gaining advisers and 15 losing them. Entireti & Akumin Group led the gains, up by five, while State Trustees went from six advisers to none. Of the 32 arrivals, 14 were new entrants.
The arrivals were also far less experienced than the advisers leaving. Arrivals had a median of 2.6 years since their first appointment, against 8 years for departures (see The Experience Gap below).
Calendar 2026 year to date is +133, compared with (-21) at the same point in 2025, a turnaround of 154 advisers. Financial year 2026/27 year to date is +308, still the strongest start to a financial year in our series, which dates back to 2019/20. No new licensees commenced and three ceased. In total, 67 advisers were affected by appointments and resignations.
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Key Adviser Movements for the Week
15,190 current advisers
Net change of advisers: +7
New Entrants: 14
New licensees commenced: 0
Licensees ceased: 3
23 licensee owners had net gains
15 licensee owners had net losses
Net Change Calendar 2026 YTD: +133 (2025 same period: (-21))
Net Change Financial Year 2026/27 YTD: +308
Net change last 12 months: (-257)
Growth - Licensee Owners
Entireti & Akumin Group up by five to 1,099. Three were new entrants, two at Fortnum Advice and one at Fortnum Private Wealth. Further appointments went to Fortnum Advice, Fortnum Private Wealth, Personal Financial Services and Akumin Financial Planning, while one adviser left LFC Group for Bombora Advice.
Picture Wealth Group up by four to 386. Appointments were at Picture Wealth Advisory, including one new entrant, and at Capstone Financial Planning.
Evans Dixon (Evans and Partners) up by two to 94, both new entrants.
A tail of 20 licensee owners up by net one each, including Ord Minnett Group (283), NAB (262), Vivid Holdco (Viridian Advisory) (132), FSSSP Financial Services (Aware Financial Services) (125) and Spark Partnership Group (Spark Advisors Australia) (102). Six of these gains were new entrants, at Ord Minnett, NAB, Viridian Advisory, KYCU Financial Planning, Cutcher & Neale and Strategic Financial Management.
Shaw and Partners (193) finished flat. It gained an adviser from Ord Minnett and a new entrant, offset by one departure to Taylor Collison and one not yet reappointed.
Losses - Licensee Owners
The Treasurer of Victoria (State Trustees) down by six to zero. All six advisers resigned on 21 October and none has been reappointed yet. Three had been with State Trustees for almost eight years.
Centrepoint Group (Alliance Wealth) down by two to 598. Neither adviser has been reappointed, and one was a new entrant appointed in July.
Lifestyle Asset Management Group down by two to 39. Both had joined only recently, one in July and one in September, and neither has been reappointed.
Loyalty Financial Services down by two to 32. Both had been with the licensee for four and a half years and are not yet reappointed.
Trend Investor Services down by two to 4. Neither has been reappointed yet.
A tail of 10 licensee owners down by net one each, including WT Financial Group (504), Lifespan (313), Industry Super Holdings (Industry Fund Services) (104) and Merchant Wealth Partners (MBS Advice Licence) (45). Lifespan's departure moved to Australian Mortgage and Financial Advisers.
Three licensees were reduced to zero advisers this week. They were State Trustees, Kyle Clifford Frost, and Legacy Financial Planning, whose adviser moved to MFG Advice.
The Experience Gap - Who Is Arriving and Who Is Leaving
This week's 32 arrivals had a median of 2.6 years since their first appointment. The 25 departures had a median of 8 years. A net gain of seven can hide experienced advisers being replaced by much newer ones.
It is not a one week pattern. Over the past 52 weeks, 792 advisers arrived on the register and 1,055 departed.
The register itself is still weighted heavily towards experience. Measured from each adviser's first ever appointment, the split is as follows.
• Under 3 years, 1,447 (9.5%)
• 3 to 10 years, 2,862 (18.8%)
• 10 to 20 years, 7,359 (48.4%)
• 20 years or more, 3,522 (23.2%)
Almost three in four current advisers (71.6%) are 10 years or more from their first appointment.
Training the next generation falls to relatively few groups. There are 495 provisional advisers on the register, 3.26% of all advisers, and only 224 of 1,826 licensee owners currently carry one. Nine provisional advisers became full advisers this week.
..Top 12 Groups by Number of Advisers - Number of New Entrants and percentage they make up of their advisers (Cal YTD).
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