Financial Adviser Market Insights, September 17, 2026
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Adviser numbers rose by 7 for the week, moving from 15,156 to 15,163
A return to growth after last week's brief pullback, with the market once again broadly balanced.25 licensee owners recorded net gains against 19 with losses.
Entireti & Akumin's Ironbark consolidation continued in the background, with a further six advisers moving from Akumin Financial Planning onto the group's LFC Group licence taking LFC to a total of 69 advisers. Elsewhere, Rhombus Enterprises picked up two advisers who had left Centrepoint two weeks ago and were still unplaced and one form CFG Advice.
A total of 65 advisers were affected by appointments and/or resignations this week, including 5 new entrants to the register. Two new licensees commenced (one restarting) and ceased.
A couple of interesting milestones recorded this week for the calendar year:
New licensees hit 100 - see more below
InterPrac down by 200 - Of the 200 resignations, 184 have been appointed elsewhere. Gill and Co (Phillip Alexander) picking up 33 and Springboard gaining 22. Another 33 have opted for small boutique licensees of under 20 advisers, with some starting their own licensees. InterPrac still have 66 advisers remaining.
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Key Adviser Movements for the Week
15,163 current advisers
Net change of advisers: +7
New Entrants: 5
New licensees commenced: 2
Licensees ceased: 1
25 licensee owners had net gains
19 licensee owners had net losses
Net Change Calendar 2026 YTD: +108
Net Change Financial Year 2026/27 YTD: +281
Net change last 12 months: (-253)
Growth - Licensee Owners
Entireti & Akumin Group up by three to 1,095, though it understates the movement within the group. Six advisers switched internally from Akumin Financial Planning onto the group's LFC Group licence, continuing Ironbark's consolidation onto a single licence, while one adviser joined from Hartley Financial, one from CommonCents Advice Group and one was a new entrant.
Rhombus Enterprises up by three to 482, two advisers joined from Centrepoint's Matrix Planning Solutions licence, having left Centrepoint two weeks ago, and one from CFG Advice.
Solomons Wealth Management up by two to 55, both advisers joining from Spark Partnership Group's Spark Advisors Australia licence.
UniSuper up by two to 80, one adviser joined from Mercer Financial Advice and one from FSSSP Financial Services (Aware Financial Services).
A tail of 21 licensee owners up by net one each, including Focus Partners Australia Group, Cobalt Advisers and Industry Super Holdings.
Losses - Licensee Owners
Daintree Topco down by three to 203, the week's largest loss, with none of the departing advisers yet reappointed.
Simmons Moore down by three to just 1 adviser. This licensee was only formed a few weeks ago from a team of three advisers who switched together from Flow Financial'’ MIPLAN Advisory licence that same team has now moved on again, not yet reappointed.
Hartley Financial down by two, with one adviser joining Entireti & Akumin Group (see Growth) and the other not yet reappointed.
A tail of 16 licensee owners down by net one each, including Centrepoint Group (599), Infocus Group (184), Lifespan (308) and Oreana Financial Services (108).
100 New Licensees For Calendar Year To Date
. Calendar Year To Date adviser movement by Business models
Overall: 100 new licensees commenced this year against 58 closures (net +42), alongside a net gain of 108 advisers (15,055 → 15,163, +0.72%).
Financial Planning is doing almost all the heavy lifting: +135 advisers (+1.31%), and by far the most licensee activity of any model and 81 new licensees against 33 closures. It's both the biggest model and the main source of growth.
Investment Advice is the standout performer proportionally: +50 advisers on the smallest base shown here, a +1.73% growth rate — the highest of any model — from just 8 new licensees against 5 closures.
Accounting – Limited Advice continues its sharp decline: down 56 advisers, a −24.89% fall, by far the steepest of any model. Notably, 8 new licensees still started in this space even as the adviser count collapsed — consistent with the pattern flagged previously, where some "new" licensees here are returning advisers re-emerging once qualified, not genuine expansion.
Accounting – Financial Planning, Super Fund Based Advice and Other are all mildly contracting (−8, −8, and −4 advisers respectively), with closures outnumbering new licensees in each — quiet attrition rather than a growth story.
Only one of the new licensees currently have 20 or more advisers. While 65 are ‘one adviser’ models.
Note: A small number of the licensees, mostly in the Accounting - Limited Advice model, are licensees that ceased late last year and restarted this year. This was due to advisers needing to update qualifications.
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The Australian Financial Adviser Market 2026 is Padua's data-driven read on the state of the profession. Drawing on the ASIC Financial Adviser Register and adviser exam data, it maps six forces behind a market that has stopped shrinking but is far from recovered: 15,012 advisers, ageing fast, against 3.6 million Australians who need advice. The conclusion is a shift in the question itself, from how to grow the workforce to how to get more from the one we have.
