The financial advice profession has enjoyed a recovery this week as numbers surpassed 15,600 yet again, following the largest decline this calendar year-to-date last week.
According to Wealth Data’s latest analysis, adviser numbers received a double digit boost with a net gain of 12 for the week ending 22 May, bringing the calendar year and financial year growth up to 123 and 256, respectively.
This comes after back-to-back weekly losses that broke a five-week positive streak, which had been bolstered by those who successfully passed the March financial adviser exam.
The next exam session is set for 6 June, which could also help boost numbers, however there is usually a hike in exits shortly before the end of the financial year.
The bounce back this week was helped in part by seven new entrants to the profession, while 64 advisers were active in appointments and resignations. Furthermore, two new licensees commenced this week and just one ceased.
Looking at the weekly licensee growth, 23 licensee owners had a net gain of one adviser each, including PictureWealth, Findex and Beryllium Advisers.
Troy Mahoney gained two advisers from Morgans, and a newly launched licensee commenced with two advisers, both of which were from Exelsuper Advice.
Meanwhile, FSSP Financial Services backtracked its losses last week with a net gain of two, with one adviser coming from FinexWealth and Guideway Financial Services, respectively.
On the other end of the scale, 13 licensees were down by net one each, including Lifespan, Morgan Stanley and Sequoia.
Centrepoint was down two advisers, neither of which have been appointed elsewhere at this time, while Count Limited also suffered a net loss of two, losing one each from subsidiaries Count and Merit Wealth.
However, the biggest loser for the week was Entireti and Akumin Group, which was down by net six, with five advisers having moved during March and April to PSK Advisory Services.
Separate findings from Wealth Data recently discovered advice business models focused on holistic and investment advice have grown by just 2 per cent so far this financial year.
According to the research firm, there were 89 new licensees added to the financial planning model. The total number of advisers was up from 10,230 in July to 10,467. However, Wealth Data noted that 37 licensees in this business model have ceased over the same period.
For investment advice, this rose from 2,904 advisers to 2,966 advisers, with an addition of nine licensees, and 13 licensees ceased.
Those practices focused on the superannuation fund model, which were mainly large industry funds, lost 10 advisers, while the accounting-limited advice that mostly provided advice on self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) lost the most.
