Adviser Numbers This Week Decreased By (-15) From 15,832 To 15,817

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Key Adviser Movements This Week:

• Net Change of advisers down by (-15)

• Net Change of +14 for 2023 Calendar YTD

• 14 Licensee Owners had net gains for 20 advisers

• 25 Licensee Owners had net losses for (-36) advisers

• 2 New licensees and 1 ceased

• 2 New entrants

• Number of advisers active this week appointed / resigned: 67.

Summary
A net loss of 15 advisers this week bringing down the net gain YTD to just 14. We are expecting at least 6 advisers coming back onto the ASIC FAR very soon as they transition to a new AFSL.

Growth This Week

• Industry Super Holdings up by net 4 - all advisers from different licensees

• Mercer up by net 3 and all 3 coming from different licensees

• Ashley Hann (Planet Money) up by 2 with both advisers coming from AMP financial Planning

• 11 licensee owners up by net 1 including Centrepoint, LFG Financial Services and both new licensees that commenced this week.

Losses This Week

• Steinhardt Holdings (Infocus) down (-6) with the loss of a major practice. Infocus are down (-22) Calendar YTD

• 6 licensee owners are down net (-2) each including Australian Unity, Insignia, Perks Private Wealth, Sequoia and the lone licensee that closed

• 18 licensee owners down by net (-1) including Capstone, Clime and Count.

• AMP Group were net zero for the week but were busy hiring 3 and losing 3. AMP Financial Planning, the largest individual licensee is now down to 501 advisers.

Advisers Ceased - 2023
Last week we looked at the new entrants for 2023 which after today’s update the number is currently running at 146. However, the number of advisers who have ceased during 2023 is at 365 - more than double the new entrants.

For those doing the math, some 240 advisers have re-joined the ASIC FAR after being ceased before the start of the new year. The number of advisers returning tends to ebb and flow, especially around key dates such as the end and start of the calendar and financial years.

It is a good time to do this exercise as all of the advisers that have ceased would have passed the Financial (FASEA) Exam. In addition, advisers who may have been considering retirement due to the need to gain an approved exam, would have known that an experienced pathway will be expected during 2023.

The chart below highlights that 136 advisers that have ceased, had commenced as an adviser before 2010. Another 133 sit between 2015 and 2018, this was pre FASEA and a rush of advisers joined the FAR late in 2018. Of the 133 in this grouping, 72 initially commenced in 2018.

The number of advisers who commenced between Jan 2010 and Dec 2014 is quite low at 61.

Lastly, post FASEA (2019), the number is low at 35. However, the total number of new entrants post 2019 has been also been low. 12 of the 35 ceased as ‘Provisional Advisers’.

We may see some of these advisers come back - the data is a simple ‘point in time picture’. However, we can also expect more resignations.

Advisers ceased at 365 represents 2.3% of the advisers at the start of the year. The data covers 5 months. If we project this out for 12 months, it would be 876 advisers or 5.5% of the advisers who were on the FAR at the start of 2023. The numbers post the end and start of the financial year will be interesting to watch.

Other ceased adviser data - 43% of those ceased belonged to licensees that had 100 or more advisers. This is proportionate to the current number of advisers at such licensees which is at 42%. And 5.75% of those ceased belonged to licensees that are now at zero.

APRA and SMSF Funds Analysis - Recently Updated
Last week we updated our stats for SMSFs and APRA funds and wrote a separate blog post covering the highlights.

What is interesting is the level of of ‘unlisted’ investments held by the different fund types. Industry and Public funds hold close to 22% of their portfolios in unlisted assets, while Retail funds are under 5%.

I’m sure all parties will have their own valid reasons for holding / not holding unlisted assets. This may be the time for broader debate to better inform the end consumer about their portfolios and what unlisted assets may mean to them should we suffer something like the global financial crisis (GFC).

To access the Super Funds blog post - click here

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