This week’s analysis of the ASIC Financial Adviser Register (FAR), shows a decrease of (-549) Adviser Roles moving from a total of 19,894 to 19,345.

The number of actual Advisers dropped by (-549) from 19,631 to 19,082

Click Here To Access The Detailed Adviser Dashboards

(See Dashboard 17 for more information to the variation between Adviser Roles and Actual Advisers)

Caution Around The Numbers
This week was much anticipated as it coincided with the end of the financial year which is traditionally the most volatile in terms of Adviser movement. I should stress that the data released today by ASIC closed off overnight on June 30 and is unlikely to have captured all the movement. Licensees have up to 30 days to report Adviser movement and the last few days was obviously very busy for many licensees. Add in the lockdowns around the country which can be disruptive, we have probably not seen the full June 30th impact. Having said all that, the numbers do highlight what was anticipated with a major reduction in the number of Advisers.

Key highlights of the week:

• The number of Advisers reported as Current on the ASIC Financial Adviser Register (FAR) dropped by (-549)

• Losses (see image below) dominated by large groups with National Tax & Accountants Association (NTAA) who run SMSF Adviser Network losing (-91), a gap to IOOF at (-45) followed by Easton Group (-32), AMP (-30) and Synchron (-27)

• A total of 137 Licensee Owners had net losses for a total (-581) Advisers

• 24 Licensees Owners had growth for a total of 32 roles

• 19 Licensees closed (zero Advisers) for a total of (-51) Adviser losses

• 2 new Licensees commenced for a total of 6 Advisers. Both transferred out of Lonsdale which is owned by IOOF. Suspect we will a jump in new licensees next week as we cross into the new financial year.

• As a result of the losses at SMSF Advisers Network (SAN), AMP Financial Planning regain top spot as the largest licensee in the country with 690 Adviser roles, followed by SAN with 669 and Morgans at 470.

• IOOF remain the largest License Owner with 1,437 ahead of AMP Group at 1,367 and a big gap to NTAA with 669.

• For the Financial Year, a total of (-2,364) roles have been lost or (-10.89%)

• As for growth over the financial year, only 13 Licensee Owners who currently have more than 50 Advisers have grown. (Dashboard 2). Oreana topping out the table with 31, Castleguard (Lifespan) 27, Fortnum 21.

• In contrast to the growth, 41 licensee owners who currently have 50 or more Advisers have lost a total of (2,207) roles over the financial year. AMP Group at (-511), IOOF Group at (-412) and NAB at (-195). Noting that NAB switched 156 advisers to MLC prior to completion of the sale to IOOF, therefore one could state that the loss at IOOF can be seen as (-568)

• At a Peer Group level for the Financial year, (see image below). Investment Advice (Advisory firms that focus on portfolio advice) has held up the best with a loss of (-2.23%). Financial Planning (firms who focus on holistic advice) are down by (-9.66%). Accounting - Limited Advice (Firms that predominately focus on limited SMSF advice) are down (-23.28%).

The June quarter has always been volatile
The chart below (Dashboard 7) highlights the net change of Adviser roles per quarter since July 1, 2016. The top table is actual Net Change and the bottom table is the running sum of Net Change since July 1, 2016.

You’ll see that that Quarter 2 (June quarter) tends to have the deepest losses. Net losses have occurred in every June quarter for the last 5 years.

In summary, a very busy week and expect more volatility in next week’s numbers. Any questions or requests, please call or email.