Looking at which licensees are seeing the fastest growth over the six months, Wealth Data says there are three firms that stand out.
Last week, Money Management noted there have been five consecutive periods of no growth or decline in adviser numbers after an initial strong start to 2024. The most recent week to 14 March saw a net loss of seven advisers.
Over the past six months, there has been an overall loss of 48 advisers.
Wealth Data founder Colin Williams said: “The last six months is an interesting period to track as it covers off the volatile period over Christmas and New Year. We did see a strong start to the new year, but the last few weeks have shown a steady decline.
“We are well aware that growing adviser firms has been a tough task. However, some are shining through despite the difficulties.”
The firms that have reported the fastest growth in the last six months to 14 March were:
- Shaw and Partners, up 27.
- Centrepoint Alliance, up 20.
- Castleguard Trust (Lifespan), up 18.
The three firms also saw the largest growth over one year with Shaw and Partners up by 32, Castleguard Trust up by 24, and Centrepoint up by 21.
Out of the three, Centrepoint has more than 500 advisers at 536 advisers, followed by Castleguard with 281, and Shaw and Partners with 205.
Shaw and Partners and Castleguard had previously been highlighted at the end of 2023 as among the licensees that saw the largest organic growth throughout the year, behind Sequoia in first place.
Williams added six of top seven licensees by six-month growth currently have 100 or more advisers indicating it is a case of the big getting bigger, especially in light of recent M&A activity.
As well as the three aforementioned companies, this includes super fund Australian Retirement Trust (ART), Canaccord Group, and Sequoia. These grew by nine, eight and seven advisers, respectively, during the six-month period.
The three licensees have also reported positive growth over two years and Williams noted this compared to a net loss of 905 advisers over the same period across the industry. Shaw and Partners and Castleguard both grew by 21 and Centrepoint grew by 17.
