Adviser numbers among largest groups drop to new lows

The Money Management 2021 TOP Financial Planning Groups survey has found the number of advisers operating under the largest financial planning groups in the country has dropped to around 11,500, reaching the new lows.

The survey, which has been one of the longest running snapshot of financial planning industry in Australia, found that a similar number in 2011 stood at above 16,000.

In the following years, the numbers of advisers working for the key groups were dropping however they remained above 15,000.

By contrast, in 2019 this number slipped further to around 14,500 and in 2020 it stood at around 13,200.

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This year’s survey confirmed that AMP Financial Planning was still the single largest group in Australia in terms of adviser numbers, however the group fell briefly to second position at the start of the year but later it managed to regain its top spot.

Additionally, the past 12 months continued to see a number of mergers and acquisitions as a result of the ongoing consolidation across the mid-tier groups, with Easton having completed the acquisition of Paragem and Centrepoint Alliance announcing the acquisition of ClearView’s financial advice arm, among others.

The coming year will prove how many advisers would be eventually turned away by the combination of the increasing regulatory burden and the ever-growing requirements and costs to service advice.

The full report can be found here.