Adviser exam ‘surplus’ hits 5k

According to analysis from Wealth Data, there are 5,022 “surplus” advisers that have passed the exam but are no longer listed on the Financial Advisers Register (FAR).

The numbers follow the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) releasing the most recent exam results last week, which saw a total of 73 per cent of candidates passed the adviser exam in August, or 150 of the 205 candidates that sat the exam.

“As has been the practice for past exams, unsuccessful candidates will receive general feedback from ACER to highlight the curriculum areas where they have underperformed,” ASIC said.

The next exam sitting will be held on 9 November 2023, with enrolments to open on Monday, 2 October, and close on Friday, 20 October.

To date 20,718 individual candidates have sat the exam, of which over 19,172 (92 per cent) have passed.

Looking back at the pass rates for previous exam periods, Wealth Data found that there has been an appreciable uptick in the pass rate, with it sitting at just 52 per cent in August 2022.

“However, August 2022 was a very different time, with the majority of advisers sitting for the second time,” said Wealth Data founder Colin Williams.

“The last two sets of exams have produced very similar number in terms of the number of candidates, those sitting for the first time and the pass rates. Maybe this now becomes the norm for a while?”

The number of surplus advisers that have passed the exam has grown significantly, up by 1,201 from the 3,821 people that were eligible to practice but were not in August 2022.

“We are aware that many advisers passed the exam and still exited shortly afterwards. For example, this calendar year alone, 713 advisers have ceased on the ASIC FAR, all would have passed the exam,” Mr Williams added.

“Many are being replaced by advisers coming back into advice. However, we can see that there is a big opportunity to bring many more advisers back into advice.”