Research firm Wealth Data observed that the advice sector saw a net loss of 14 advisers in the week ending 5 April. This is the second week in a row the industry has seen a weekly double-digit loss, with the previous week declining by 11 advisers.
As a result, the substantial weekly drop has seen overall adviser numbers slip from 15,609 in the previous week to 15,595 currently.
“The calendar year slips further into the red with a net loss of 14 advisers this week and the total number of advisers dips below 15,600,” noted Colin Williams, Wealth Data founder.
This calendar year-to-date (YTD) has seen a net loss of 21 advisers since the year began, while the financial YTD sits at a rise of 40 advisers.
Some 86 advisers were active with appointments and resignations over the week, while six new entrants joined the profession. Moreover, one new licensee commenced and four ceased operations.
Looking at weekly declines, 33 licensee owners had net losses of 49 advisers in total. This was led by Count Financial with a loss of eight advisers across four of its practices.
Wealth Data recently revealed Count as the firm with the highest adviser losses this financial YTD. The licensee has decreased by 59 advisers since the financial year began, compared to competitors AMP and Insignia Financial which have lost 40 and 39 advisers respectively.
Following Count, Fortnum Private Wealth lost four advisers during the week while both Morgans and JGTS Advice were down by three each. According to Williams, JGTS Advice has “effectively ceased” with no advisers remaining at the firm.
Ashford Financial Planning is also down to zero advisers after losing the remaining two advisers.
Fitzpatricks Group lost two advisers, and 27 licensee owners declined by net one adviser each, such as Findex Group, Ord Minnett and Sequoia Group.
In terms of weekly growth, smaller licensee Altitude Wealth Management grew by three advisers who all joined from JGTS Advice.
Another smaller licensee owner, Adrians Capital, also welcomed three advisers into its advice network, with all three moving from Morgans.
Both WT Financial Group and Lifespan Financial planning gained net two advisers each, while a tail of 23 licensee owners increased by net one adviser each. This included Steinhardt Holdings (Infocus) and Centrepoint Group.
Until the ANNUAL Fee Consents are eliminated, red tape that simply doesn’t exist in any other nation on earth, adviser numbers will not grow. This red tape has locked out low income, meaning advice is only available to rich people now. This is a disaster for low income families needing advice. Plus PI Insurance premiums need to be wound back from $20k yr to $3k yr. Retail advisers are not delivering babies like Doctors.
Let’s hope that there is no knee jerk reaction to allow banks and product providers to get involved in the advice process. That’s how we got to this point.