It says something about the health of the Australian financial planning industry that Money Management’s 2009 Top 100 Dealer Groups survey has revealed that despite the impact of the global financial crisis, the numbers of financial planners in Australia has actually risen.
Given the time frame across which the data for the Top 100 survey was collected, the rise in the number of planners may prove to be illusory, but it nonetheless suggests that despite its critics, the financial planning industry is in reasonable shape.
Money Management’s Top 100 Dealer Groups series is now 10 years’ old and while the big names such as AMP Financial Planning have always been a part of the survey, the rise and rise of groups such as Count Financial and Professional Investment Services have told their own stories.
This year’s non-bank winner of the Dealer Group of the Year is Macquarie Equities and the bank winner is Commonwealth Financial Planning — results that are important because they reflect not only the raw data on planner numbers and funds under advice but also how the organisations are viewed by both their clients and their planners.
Our congratulations to Macquarie Equities and Commonwealth Financial Planning.
