With adviser losses set to continue, Wealth Data founder Colin Williams has detailed which business model is likely to drive the exodus.
Last week, it was found 41 advisers departed the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) in the week to 19 June, which was quadruple of those who left in the previous week and in the same period a year ago.
This is set to continue over the next week with only a matter of days left until the end of the financial year on 30 June.
Speaking to Money Management, Williams said he expected to see “disproportional” losses from those licensees that don’t offer holistic advice, those who sit in the accounting-limited advice model where advice isn’t the main focus of their business model.
This number has already been “bleeding” over the years, he said, as currently, there are 429 advisers in the model which represents only 2.2 per cent of total advisers.
“Most of the advisers in this model are basically accountants offering advice for setting up SMSFs. This model has been bleeding since FASEA, and with all the expenses continuously building for advisers on the FAR, I just don’t think too many of these advisers will see value in remaining on the ASIC FAR,” he said.
During the week to 19 June, advisers in this business model accounted for 25 per cent of the 41 losses.
Since the start of 2025, this model is down by 53 advisers compared to gains of 77 by holistic business models focused on financial planning.
This model is one that has affected Count since its acquisition of Diverger as many of the losses it has seen since have centred around advisers at Merit Wealth, which is restricted to SMSFs, and saw Count be the licensee with the largest decline in the previous financial year.
In the past week, nine advisers exited Merit Wealth and six exited the firm at the start of the month.
Speaking after the acquisition last year, Count chief executive Hugh Humphrey, said: “The limited authorised representatives on our books, largely within Merit Wealth, are a different type of authorisation who may only give advice once or twice a year, or do a piece of work for a client around an SMSF. That’s very different to an adviser who has 150–200 ongoing financial advice clients and very different in their revenue.”
