Adviser numbers rebounding after tough EOFY

The latest Wealth Data figures for the week ended 27 July revealed a net positive change of eight advisers, with the number of advisers across the country currently reading at 15,715.

However, Wealth Data founder Colin Williams deemed the week a “rather slow” one, with only 40 advisers involved in resignations or appointments, about half of the usual number.

As it stands, there has been a net loss of 83 advisers this calendar year to date (YTD).

However, adviser numbers as of the new financial year are up by 143, with Mr Williams noting that the beginning of FY23–24 was particularly active.

“Only three days into it, the most notable change is 11 new licensees and a positive start of 115 advisers,” he said earlier this month.

On the back of this, five new entrants came into the scene this week, with two of them joining ASVW Holdings.

Eighteen licensee owners had net gains for 23 advisers, alongside two new licensees starting up and one having ceased after losing two advisers.

One of the new licensees had the highest growth this week, with the addition of four advisers, after moving away from Lonsdale, part of Insignia.

In its quarterly business update on Thursday, Insignia said its loss of 70 advisers from its Advice Services channel “largely reflects the closure of Lonsdale”, with a number of advisers transitioning to Consultum or moving to self-licensing.

Meanwhile, Perpetual gained two advisers, one from AAN Wealth and the other from Madison, owned by Clime.

Overall, 15 licensee owners gained one adviser each, including WT Financial Group, Sequoia, HESTA, and the other new licensee.

This week, 14 licensees were down 17 advisers, with Telstra Super contributing two of them.

AMP Group were also down by two, taking their total number of advisers below the 900 mark, now sitting at 899.

Eleven licensee owners lost one adviser each, including Australian Unity, Clime Group, Count Group, Oreana, and Steinhardt Holdings (Infocus).

Last week, Wealth Data looked at the percentage of advisers based in state capitals with an emphasis on advisers who are authorised by large, mostly industry super funds. The findings revealed that super funds had a high rate of advisers in the state capital CBDs, with rates in excess of 70 per cent for most states.

A potential consequence of a high concentration of advisers in the CBD, Mr Williams speculated, may be that super fund members will seek advice closer to home for large decisions, such as retiring from the workforce, and later place funds in SMSFs via local advisers.

Mr Williams said it is difficult to prove his theory without further research, but pointed out that industry funds have, almost every quarter, lost a large amount of funds to SMSFs, now accounting for approximately 26 per cent of the super system.