The end of the financial year saw the continued exit of advisers as many licensees posted net losses, according to the data from HFS Consulting’s director Colin Williams.
The groups which recorded the least growth in adviser roles over the last week were VicSuper, Phillip Capital Limited and the Lunar Group (known as Stanford Brown) as each of them saw a departure of 55 and 35 roles, respectively.
The data also showed a loss of 18 roles at Lunar Group (known as Stanford Brown), however, Stanford Brown's chief executive, Jonathan Hoyle has clarified that the change was only technical due to the fact that his advisers have been authorised under a new corporate entity due to a structural change at the parent level. Following this, Hoyle confirmed that as of July, 1, the Lunar Group (Stanford Brown) had still 18 authorised representatives.
According to Williams, VicSuper’s major net loss could be attributed to advisers transferring to First State Super due to the earlier announced merger of two funds which would see the creation of one entity managing more than $125 billion in super savings on behalf of more than 1.1 million clients.
The decline in the number of advisers for the other two groups, Phillip and Lunar, who were both stock brokers was due to a removal of all advisers from the register as they have, most likely, ceased to provide advice to retail clients, the firm said.
The other key event this week which had an impact on the overall landscape was an Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC’s) decision to cancel the Australian financial services (AFS) licence for MyPlanner Professional Services to cancel the Australian financial services (AFS) licence for MyPlanner Professional Services which means the firm is now closed.
At the same time, IOOF appears to be gaining ground on AMP in terms of total planners, albeit by attrition.
According to data from HFS Consulting, over the last week AMP Group saw a net change in adviser numbers of 252 roles (76 new appointments and 328 resignations) while, at the same time, IOOF Group had 180 resignations and made 83 new appointments.
Interprac Financial Planning topped the list this week for a highest growth in adviser roles year-to-date even though over the last week the firm saw a departure of 16 roles.
Comments
QSuper is exiting approx 65 advice staff. They were told yesterday. Many local recruiters knew before staff did.
Regarding the line in this article "they have...ceased to provide advice to retail clients". So, have these people, no longer on the FAR, left the Industry?
There's possibly an emerging issue here which is concerning.
The best compliance opinions I have heard so far conclude that any type of Adviser must still be licensed - that is, on the FAR - to advise retail or wholesale clients.
So for anyone contemplating a strategy of advising wholesale clients only, hope you have some solid legal advice to back up your approach to the regulations.
Why would any member in their right mind pay $2,500 for financial advice when they can get comprehensive personal advice from their super fund for free.
Now i know how taxi drivers who had to pay $000's to have a licence must have felt when uber came on the scene with little to no regulatory requirements.
It's a very similar situation to what licensed non-aligned advisers are experiencing now when competing against industry fund "intra-fund" advisers.
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