No labour market shortage for advisers, National Skills Commission finds

The industry suffered another major exodus in the week to 6 October and dropped below 16,000 advisers for the first time, but according to the National Skills Commission, advisers are experiencing ‘no shortage’ across most states.

The Skills Priority List claims that financial investment advisers are only lacking in Western in Australia, and that advisers are likely to experience ‘moderate’ future demand nationally.

Commenting on these findings, Phil Anderson, AFA CEO, told ifa that he is not surprised given most advisers are now self-employed.

“This is not to suggest that we do not have a major issue with a shortage of financial advisers, and there are, no doubt, many practices who are trying to recruit new advisers,” Mr Anderson said.

“We are also hearing that staff shortages is a broader problem in financial advice, with many practices struggling to fill other roles in their teams, including customer service and administration,” he explained.

“This seems to be a particular problem in some of the regional and remote areas, where people with the required skills just do not exist. This issue of skill shortages is one that we will need to keep an increasing eye on over the next couple of years and think hard about how it can be addressed.”

‘Confused and perplexed’

Also speaking to ifa, Peter Johnston, executive director at the Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals, said he is rather “confused and perplexed” by the findings.

“The latest AFCA complaints data demonstrates that advisers are held in high regard within the general community and their services are in demand,” Mr Johnston said.

“Common sense suggests that the 50 per cent reduction in adviser numbers over the past three years and a reluctance for new talent to choose advice as a career path can only mean there is a profound current shortage of advisers, and the future looks problematic to meet increasing consumer demand”.

Last week, Wealth Data reported an exodus of 295 advisers in one week driven by the adviser exam.

Over the last fortnight, there was a net loss of 444 advisers, bringing the total of registered advisers on the Financial Adviser Register to 15,908.