Exam results help adviser numbers bounce back

After a tough previous week in which the profession lost 30 advisers, largely driven by the 23 advisers exiting Insignia subsidiary Bridges, an influx of new entrants has helped the adviser population rebound.

The week ended 28 September has seen 19 new entrants join the industry and an overall net gain on the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) of 30 advisers. With 10 new entrants last week, there has been a total of 29 new advisers joining since the latest financial adviser exam results were released.

A total of 73 per cent of candidates passed the adviser exam in August, or 150 of the 205 candidates that sat the exam, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) revealed earlier in September.

“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,” the corporate regulator said.

The latest movements take the current number of advisers to 15,710, with a net loss of 88 for the calendar year but a net increase of 149 so far this financial year.

Including the 19 new entrants that joined in the week to 28 September, there was a total of 75 advisers involved in either appointments or resignations, with four new licensees starting up.

One of these new licensees kicked off with four advisers, all of whom were previously authorised at Infocus, while the other three new licensees all started up with a single adviser.

Outside of the new licensees, the largest growth for the week was at Unisuper, which added three advisers, and Castleguard Trust (Lifespan), which hired three new entrants.

Three licensee owners added two advisers each, including The Trustee for Armstong … Family Trust (Coral Coast Advice) and AIA, while there were 37 licensees to be up one adviser for the week.

Steinhardt Holding (Infocus) saw the largest loss for the week, down a total of four advisers, while Industry Super Holdings and Insignia were among the three licensee owners to lose two advisers each.

Finally, Count, Capstone, and AMP Group were among the 14 licensees to lose one adviser this week.