Regions that have lost more than one in four advisers

New research has revealed that while adviser numbers have been plunging across the country, some geographical regions have suffered more than others.

According to Adviser Ratings, while advisers used to be mostly clustered around the metropolitan centres, especially on the East Coast, amid COVID-19, more and more advisers chose to relocate to regional centres.

But data from the Adviser Ratings Landscape Report has revealed that several regions across the country have lost more than one in four advisers in a 12-month period to the end of last year. This trend juxtaposed the population growth these regions were seeing at the time.

In the Australian Capital Territory, the highest losses of 33 per cent were recorded in the Capital, while the Mid North Coast regions clocked a decline of 26 per cent. In NSW, the largest decline was recorded in the geographical zones that cover Sydney’s South-West and Outer West/Blue Mountains regions (27 per cent) and Inner West, Inner South-West and Blacktown regions (27 per cent).

Further north, three Queensland regions lost more than one in four advisers, including the Darling Downs, Maranoa region which saw almost half of its advisers depart (46 per cent), followed by Brisbane’s North region (42 per cent) and the Wide Bay region (26 per cent).

Meanwhile, the already small adviser presence in outback Northern Territory contracted by 60 per cent.

While noting the concerning impact adviser losses in these regions have on consumers, Adviser Ratings also acknowledged the affects felt by the remaining advisers who are being forced to turn prospective clients away.

While no regions grew their adviser populations amid the 2021 mass exodus, the districts that contracted the least were NSW’s Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region, Victoria’s Bunbury, Mandurah region and Brisbane’s Inner City region.

“Given adviser numbers are slowly stabilising, we’ll be looking closely at how regions across Australia are faring when the advice population starts rising again,” Adviser Ratings said.

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.

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