New entrants to advice profession crack 90 in 2025

Wealth Data has revealed the top licensee owners that are supporting growth in new advisers.

For the 2025 calendar year to date, the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) has risen by 97 advisers (as at 27 February).

The vast majority (90) are new entrants who have commenced in the industry for the first time. Breaking this figure down by business model, 60 belong to the holistic financial planning segment.

An additional 22 new entrants are in investment advice, seven are in the accounting-financial planning model, and just one is from the superannuation fund advice model.

Wealth Data also examined which Australian licensee owners are driving the growth in new entrants.

Unsurprisingly, due to its position as the largest financial advice group, Entireti is leading the way with 11 new entrants for the calendar YTD.

This was followed by Ord Minnett Group, Morgan Stanley, and Count, which have all brought on four new advisers, respectively.

Sequoia Financial Group, Morgans Group, Centrepoint Alliance, and Birds Holding have each hired three new entrants.

Finally, WT Financial Group, CCA Financial Planners, Rhombus Advisory, Smart Financial, and Bell Financial have welcomed two advisers each.

Source: Wealth Data, February 2025

Incoming advisers are set to see changes to educational requirements, with the government announcing earlier this month that it will reform the standards by opening up the number of approved degrees that students can undertake.

“The government will streamline the qualification requirements to expand the pipeline of new entrants to the profession. The current standard is unsustainable. It is unattractive to school leavers due to the restrictive career path and it requires a significant investment in study for career changers,” the announcement said.

Weekly movements

Looking at the week ending 27 February, the financial advice profession saw a net growth of six advisers.

Some nine new entrants joined the sector, while zero new licensees commenced and one ceased. More than 50 advisers were active with appointments and resignations during the week.

In terms of adviser growth, 23 licensee owners experienced net gains of 25 advisers. Lifespan Financial Planning welcomed three advisers from Watershed Dealer Services, owned by RNB Group.

This brought Lifespan’s total adviser numbers to 300 currently, having gained 10 advisers so far for the calendar year.

Another 20 licensee owners were up by one adviser each, such as Spark Partnership Group, Perpetual, and Morgans.

Looking at declines, 16 licensee owners reported net losses of 18 advisers in total. Following RNB Group’s loss of three advisers, 15 licensee owners fell by one adviser. This included Insignia Financial, Fitzpatricks, and Infocus.