Instos adviser losses continue in February

AMP, ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, IOOF, NAB and Westpac lost a net cumulative total of 87 advisers during February, with total losses for the five businesses coming to 804 for the last year, Bell Potter analyst Lafitani Sotiriou said in email to subscribers.

Mr Sotiriou added that AMP’s losses were notable given the business’ expenditure on its advice arm.

“AMP was particularly bad, notching its second worst month in the last year at -46 in February, which given the company is spending ~$80 million a year buying advisers and advisers' books, is mind-boggling,” Mr Sotiriou said.

“These losses are a concern, given AMP is looking to sell its life company, where part of the attraction is its large distribution (which is declining at a rapid rate).”

Mr Sotiriou said advisers were likely to continue leaving larger institutions at a faster pace as the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services industry continues.

“The move away from the large integrated institutional players continues, and we believe the current royal commission will only accelerate the move faster as we expect to hear stories that are likely to damage the aligned brands further,” he said.

“Incidentally, the number of advisers in the overall market is slightly up in the last 12 months, implying the independent players are getting bigger.”

Last month's figures showed a similar pattern, with the big four banks, AMP and IOOF all experiencing a net loss of advisers over January 2017. 

A subsequent analysis by ifa found that the lion's share of exiting advisers in January joined non-bank and boutique licensees.