This was a significant week for the adviser numbers as another eight licensees decide to close, which translated into the loss of 15 adviser roles, according to the weekly analysis of the Financial Adviser Register (FAR) by HFS Consulting.
At the same time, the number of actual advisers for the entire industry dropped by 40 to 22,201.
HFS’ director, Colin Williams, explained that six of those closed licensees were associated with accounting firms which was in line with the broader trend which saw more accounting firms reducing the number of advisers on their books.
Williams said it would be interesting to watch how many of these small accounting based licensees would remain post FASEA (the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethic Authority) exam requirements as their numbers were reducing each week.
“It could lead to opportunities for established advisers to form new relationships with accountants who are calling time on their short financial advice career,” Williams said.
Also, according to HFS’ analysis, this week saw 39 licensee owners make net losses for a total of (-77) adviser roles.
This was followed by 47 licensees having reported net adviser losses for a total of 81 adviser roles, with IOOF-owned Bridges Financial Services and Garvan Financial Planning (MLC) losing 15 and seven roles, respectively.
In total, 46 adviser roles were appointed this week, only one being a ‘new’ provisional adviser, while 89 roles ‘resigned’ giving the net total of (-43).
Source: HFS Consulting
Year-to-date both IOOF and MLC Groups were down (-105) adviser roles each, and were followed by AMP Group which was down (-95).
