Centrepoint overtakes Count in licensee line up, eyeing further growth

Centrepoint Alliance has overtaken Count as the second largest AFSL with more advisers in the pipeline and strong EBITDA growth predictions for FY2026.

After trailing closely behind Count for some time, a steady inflow has seen Centrepoint hit 588 advisers, up slightly from 584 in October, while Count has dropped from 595 to 583, according to Padua Wealth Data.

While Entireti and Akumin still far outstrip Centrepoint, which is sitting above 1,000, Centrepoint chief executive John Shuttleworth told Money Management that the licensee has some 40 advisers currently being onboarded with many more in the pipeline, signalling potentially strong growth for the AFSL in the new year.

“We've just had consistent recruitment, but we've had quite strong retention when we and when you look at the ons and offs in the ASIC register, every practice has advisers that they lose. When we look at ours nearly it's very hard to find an example where someone's gone, ‘I'm not happy with the service at Centrepoint. I'll go to a competitor’,” Shuttleworth said.

“It's usually a business sale, where someone's retired or sold their business, and they've sold their business into another AFSL, and then they transition across, or a firm that's had an adviser and let them go.”

Although there is ongoing concern from the profession regarding the possible loss of more than 1,000 advisers at the end of 2025 as a result of the new education requirement deadline on 1 January, Shuttleworth said the AFSL is expected to lose no more than six.

An ASX announcement showed that Centrepoint is also predicting strong growth in its finances, with an EBITDA forecast of $6 million for H1 FY2026, representing a 13 per cent increase on the prior corresponding period.

“With the strong momentum in the business we expect EBITDA to be at top end of guidance $11.5 million to $12 million in EBITDA for the full year,” the statement added.

Following the launch of Centrepoint’s IconiQ platform earlier this year, the licensee said it is now building initial scale and has a $1 billion transition pipeline.

Managed accounts have been an area of particular interest within the advice market, despite ASIC increasing its focus on these products. with the launch of its IQ portfolios, Shuttleworth said the benefits of managed accounts has been a net positive for the industry and their clients.

“The managed account space is of incredible interest to a lot of our advisers, and there's benefits for the clients as well. The advisers see it as incredible efficiency tool because they've got a professionally managed portfolio, it's rebalanced with by an investment manager. They don't have to issue records of advice every time the portfolio has rebalanced, and so it creates real efficiency,” he said.

Speaking at the licensees annual general meeting (AGM) in November, Shuttleworth said Centrepoint is looking at opportunities beyond licensee services with the aim of diversifying the business and capture stronger earnings potential.