Financial Adviser Market Insights, September 3, 2026
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Adviser numbers rose by 2 for the week, moving from 15,157 to 15,159.
A ninth consecutive week of growth, though easily the smallest of the run.
Behind the modest headline sit two much bigger stories. The first is a licensing restructure, a licence within Entireti & Akumin's stable, LFC Group, jumped by 29 advisers this week as it begins consolidating advisers linked to Ironbark, who want their business operating under a single licence. Over the coming weeks we expect LFC Group to grow past 120 advisers on this basis. As the advisers are already part of the Entireti & Akumin family, the impact on the parent group's net numbers is minor, it actually grew by two.
The second story is a genuine market moves: a new licensee, Forest Wealth Holdings, commenced with 13 advisers (rare for new licensees to start with more than 10 advisers), who switched across from WT Financial Group's Millennium 3 Financial Services licence. Meanwhile, Sequoia continued its long run of losses, down a further 10 from InterPrac with Phillip Alexander - Gill and Co and Springboard Holdings being the major benefactors of the losses.
A total of 109 advisers were affected by appointments and/or resignations this week, including 8 new entrants to the register.
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Key Adviser Movements for the Week
15,159 current advisers
Net change of advisers: +2
New Entrants: 8
New licensees commenced: 1 (Forest Wealth Holdings)
Licensees ceased: 0
30 licensee owners had net gains
24 licensee owners had net losses
Net Change Calendar 2026 YTD: +104
Net Change Financial Year 2026/27 YTD: +277
Net change last 12 months: (-236)
Growth - Licensee Owners
Forest Wealth Holdings up by 13, a newly commenced licensee built almost entirely from advisers switching across from WT Financial Group's Millennium 3 Financial Services licence (see Losses).
Phillip Alexander (Gill and Co Advisory) up by five to 49, continuing the strongest run of the past year. All advisers this week switching fro InterPrac.
SGN Financial up by three to 56 with all three switching from a small licensee BWP Advisory who are down to just one advisers.
Entireti & Akumin Group up by two to 1,093 on a net basis, a figure that understates a much busier week within the group. Its LFC Group licence alone added 29 advisers as part of a restructure linking it to Ironbark affiliated advisers, who are being consolidated onto a single licence over coming weeks; because those advisers were already inside the Entireti & Akumin family, the group's net movement was largely offsetting.
A tail of licensee owners up by net one or two each, including Evans Dixon, Janus Financial, Springboard Holdings, Lifespan and Count Limited.
Losses - Licensee Owners
WT Financial Group down by 16 to 510, the week's largest loss. Thirteen of the departing advisers, all from Millennium 3 Financial Services, moved directly to the newly formed Forest Wealth Holdings (see Growth), one joined Templestone Financial Services, and two are not yet reappointed.
Sequoia Group down by 10 to 84, continuing its long-running slide from InterPrac Financial Planning.
BWP Advisory down by three and as mentioned with only one advisers still on the books.
A tail of 24 licensee owners down by net one each, including FSSSP Financial Services, Merchant Wealth Partners and KDM Financial and Estate Planning.
New Licensees - The numbers keep growing
New and in particular small ‘Micro AFSLs’ have been in the news frequently of late. Well the news is, this type of licensee is still growing. We ran a similar story this time last year and today, we have compared the numbers and provided some analysis to the data.
The chart below highlights the current number of of advisers and new licensees across our main business models. There are basically some 40 additional active licensees compared to the start of the year. Summary as follows:
95 new licensees have commenced this year against 55 closures, net +40, compared with just 67 starting and 56 closing over the same period in 2025 (net +11), roughly four times last year's pace.
Accounting – Limited Advice is the exception, with only 8 new licensees this year. Several aren't true new entrants, they're advisers who dropped off the register in late 2025, in some cases after falling short of the 2026 education requirements, now re-emerging under fresh licences once qualified. The model's adviser count keeps falling regardless, down 57 (-25.33%) this year.
New licensees remain overwhelmingly small: of the 95 started, 58 began with a single adviser, another 16 with two, and 16 with three or four, and 3 have between 5 and 9. Only Springboard Group and today’s new licensee Forest Wealth have more than 10 advisers.
. Movement of Advisers and Licensees by Business Models
The Financial Adviser Market Report - get your copy now - No Fee
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.
