Holistic advice models reporting 2% growth in FY26 YTD
Financial advice business models focused on holistic and investment advice have grown by just 2 per cent so far this financial year.
Research from Wealth Data for the financial year to date, shows there were 89 new licensees added to the financial planning model. The total number of advisers was up from 10,230 in July to 10,467.
However, Wealth Data noted that 37 licensees in this business model have ceased over the same period.
For investment advice, this has risen from 2,904 advisers to 2,966 advisers, with an addition of nine licensees, and 13 licensees ceased.
Those practices focused on the superannuation fund model, which are mainly large industry funds, have lost 10 advisers, while the accounting-limited advice that mostly provides advice on self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) has lost the most.
This category focused on SMSFs lost 63 advisers over the period to date, representing a drop of 12 per cent, and 11 licensees ceased while only 1 opened.
Commenting on the numbers, Wealth Data founder Colin Williams, said: “With about six weeks left in the financial year, which often sees high losses, especially in late June, the current numbers are better than in previous years, and we expect them to stay positive through 30 June.”
Last week, adviser numbers experienced their largest weekly loss year to date for the 2025 calendar year, doubling that of the previous week.
After steady growth over the last few months, Wealth Data reported a net loss of 18 advisers for the week ending 15 May, bringing the new total down to 15,589 and marking the largest decrease since the start of 2025.
While a steady flow of new entrants following the March ASIC exam sitting have kept the profession in modest growth, the cumulative net loss of 27 advisers over the last two weeks has wound back some of the earlier progress.
Even so, the numbers are still in the green for the calendar and financial year-to-date, with a net gain of 111 and 244 advisers, respectively, as of 15 May.
Looking at licensee growth, some 24 licensees had net gains of 25 advisers for the week ending 15 May, with one new licensee commencing with two advisers. The remaining 23 licensees, including Sequoia, Findex and Spark Financial Group, had a net gain of one adviser each.
On the other end of the scale, Macquarie Group took the biggest hit losing net seven, the majority of which appear to have held positions that are support-based services to advisers.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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