Adviser numbers see third straight week of double-digit growth

According to Wealth Data analysis, the financial advice profession grew by an additional 13 advisers over the week ending 25 July, bringing the industry total to 15,493.

This was the third week in a row of growing adviser numbers. The week prior welcomed 11 advisers and the week before that rose by 39, equalling 63 in total over the past three weeks. This marked a departure from the previous six consecutive weeks of losses in the lead-up to the new financial year.

The gains of 13 advisers in the past week was driven by a solid 18 new entrants – the same number as the previous week. Meanwhile, three new licensees opened their doors and one ceased operations.

Despite the gains, 22 licensee owners had net losses of 30 advisers in total. This was led by WT Financial Group, which declined by seven advisers due to eight resignations and one appointment. Of the resignations, six are shown as being appointed elsewhere.

Rhombus Advisory, which recently separated from Insignia Financial on 1 July and consequently reshuffled licensee rankings, lost two advisers over the week. The Australian Financial Services licensee appointed one adviser and lost three.

Total Wealth Planning was also down by two advisers and now sits at zero advisers. Nineteen licensee owners declined by one adviser each, including AMP Group, Alteris Financial Group, Centrepoint Alliance. and Sequoia.

Looking at adviser gains, 32 licensees had net growth of 46 advisers in total.

Koda Capital welcomed three advisers to its ranks from JBWere, while 12 AFSLs were up by two advisers each. This included Count and Viridian Advisory adding two new entrants each, while Shaw and Partners appointed one new entrant and one adviser from Ord Minnett.

Some 19 licensee owners gained one adviser each, including two of the new licensees, Ord Minnett and Infocus Group.

There was also a licensee shake-up caused by the introduction of Rhombus Advisory, which currently has 489 advisers, while Insignia now has 229 advisers.

As a result of Insignia resetting its advice operating model, Rhombus now holds the fifth spot in the top licensee ranking. This pushed Count into second place with 682 advisers, the spot formerly held by Insignia. AMP retains the top position with 832 advisers while Insignia, in its new form, no longer sits within the top 10. Centrepoint Alliance is in the third spot with 552 advisers and WT Financial Group in fourth with 529 advisers.