Exam results continue to boost advice entrant numbers

The financial advice profession has enjoyed another week of strong new entrant numbers, totalling nearly 40 for the past fortnight.

Wealth Data analysis of the Financial Advisers Register highlighted 17 new entrants who joined the profession over the past week ending 17 April, off the back of 21 new entrants commencing in the week prior.

This brought the new adviser total for the past fortnight to 38, the research firm found, following ASIC’s recent adviser exam held on 6 March. Some 241 candidates sat the latest exam and 73 per cent of them passed.

This was less than the 77 per cent achieved in November, which was the highest pass mark in two years, but substantially better than the 62 per cent who passed in August. The next adviser exam is set to be held on 5 June 2025, followed by 7 August and 6 November.

Thanks to the double-digit new entrants, overall adviser numbers rose by 10 for the week to 15,610.

Over 70 advisers were active with appointments or resignations, while zero licensees ceased or commenced operations.

In terms of adviser growth, 25 licensee owners had net gains of 36 advisers in total. Rhombus Advisory led the pack with a growth of four advisers. This included one new entrant, one adviser returning from a break, one adviser joining from Findex, and another from Capstone.

Centrepoint Alliance was also up by four advisers, with all joining from separate Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensees.

Viridian Advisory welcomed three advisers, including one new entrant and one adviser each from Baker Advice and MUFG Retire360, while Infocus similarly increased by three advisers. This was after it hired one new entrant alongside one adviser switching from Alliance Wealth and one from AXIIS Capital.

Moreover, BDP Private Wealth Advisers appointed two new entrants, and 20 advice firms were up by one adviser each, including PictureWealth, Koda Capital, and Entireti.

On the other end of the spectrum, 18 licensee owners had net losses of 27 advisers in total.

WT Financial Group lost seven advisers this week, none of whom have been appointed elsewhere yet, while Sequoia Financial Group was down by three advisers.

Shaw and Partners bid farewell to two advisers, alongside a tail of 15 licensee owners losing one adviser each. This included names such as Evans and Partners, Capstone, and Morgans Group.