FAAA corrects reported membership numbers

In a statement on Friday, the Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) said the number of advisers who have renewed or are in the process of renewing their membership with the FAAA is “very pleasing”.

“We are very happy with how the numbers are tracking,” said FAAA chief executive officer Sarah Abood.

“Between them, the FPA and AFA had just under 12,000 members across all categories just before the merger, of which 8,946 were practitioners. As at today, 9,525 members have renewed across all categories including 8,093 practitioners. This means that 90 per cent of advisers have renewed their membership with the FAAA,” Ms Abood explained.

However, Ms Abood stressed that ASIC data on the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) represents “current practitioners who had completed their renewal with FAAA before the bulk update cut-off earlier in August”.

“It does not include those who are still in the process of finalising their membership, or those who have left the register but who are still members, for example who have become non-practising or retired members,” Ms Abood said.

“We are very appreciative that ASIC supported the profession by agreeing to do this bulk update as a one-off, saving licensees many hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

She noted that the FAAA’s ambition is to “have as many members as possible”.

“The FAAA represents a united voice for the financial planning profession, and there is strength in numbers which is a big factor in how effective we can be in Canberra.

“We encourage any advisers who haven’t yet done so, to renew their membership. The grace period for renewals ends at the end of September so there is still time to renew membership before it lapses.”

According to Wealth Data, the total number of advisers now sits at 15,712.