FAAA members representing two-thirds of FAR

The Financial Advice Association of Australia (FAAA) has provided an update on its membership after reporting significant losses in the last financial year. 

Earlier this week, Money Management reported how the organisation lost over 1,000 members in the year to 30 June 2023. Numbers dropped by 11.7 per cent from 10,954 to 9,670, which was triple the 3.7 per cent losses reported in the wider advice industry. 

All FAAA membership categories experienced losses (practitioners, affiliates and CFPs) during the period.

In an update of current numbers, the association said there are 10,281 individual members as at mid-October. 

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This is a 6 per cent increase from the figure at the end of the financial year, thanks to the advisers who have now finalised their registration following the merger of the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) and the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA). 

The merger between the two organisations occurred in April but members did not transfer their registrations until July, meaning the numbers could not be reflected in the annual report.

It is also a 30 per cent increase from figures from the ASIC Financial Advisers Register (FAR) in August, which found there were 7,851 financial advisers who joined the newly merged organisation.

Estimates had expected the FAAA membership to make up 56 per cent of the FAR but it said it now accounts for more than this – 66 per cent of financial advisers in Australia.

Sarah Abood, chief executive of the FAAA, said: “FAAA’s individual membership has largely tracked changes in the overall number of advisers on the FAR, although our membership has declined by less than the overall adviser numbers.
 
“Having been through a period of reform and uncertainty, the number of advisers has shrunk significantly; however, the FAAA continues to represent the vast majority of advisers in Australia. Our ambition is to have as many members as possible.”

Abood highlighted the membership numbers helped by association in its advocacy efforts in Canberra and as part of the Joint Associations Working Group (JAWG). This involved discussions with the government about the implementation of the Quality of Advice Review, the ASIC adviser levy and the experience pathway.
 
“The FAAA represents a united voice for the financial planning profession, and there is strength in numbers which is a big factor in how effective we can be in Canberra.”