Advertised financial planning industry vacancies have fallen over the last three months to 31 October 2011 due to regulatory change and institutional mergers, according to the latest quarterly report from eJobs Financial Planning Recruitment.
The study found that September job ads fell in comparison to July but figures are still up 11 per cent on this time last year.
All states have seen job ads decrease in each of the last three months except in Western Australia, which has seen strong growth demand, up 6.9 per cent over the last month, and 30.5 per cent on the last three months, the report stated. Queensland experienced the greatest fall in job ads over the last month, decreasing 19.2 per cent.
The study stated that the drop in advertised financial services roles was due to continued industry mergers and executive changes, regulatory uncertainty, and the growth of institutionally-owned dealer groups coupled with the growing scarcity of independent financial advisers.
eJobs Financial Planning managing director Trevor Punnett said Commonwealth Bank’s bid for Count Financial, and the merger of AMP and AXA are recent examples of institutions strengthening their product distribution "in what appears to be a large, and seemingly ongoing game of Monopoly.
"Current job ads mirror this trend. There are a high proportion of retail bank jobs on offer, in both city centres and in regional towns and staff position for many boutiques, but truly independent adviser positions are rare," he said.
