The licensees that led Q2 adviser growth
Adviser Ratings has uncovered the top 10 financial advice licensees for growth and losses in the second quarter of the calendar year.
The research house’s quarterly Adviser Musical Chairs Report for Q2 2024 crowned Alliance Wealth as the top Australian financial services licence (AFSL) for adviser growth, which is owned by Centrepoint Alliance.
Over the quarter, the licensee welcomed 12 advisers to its ranks and the report noted that “the advisers came from a number of different licensees, primarily in the privately owned and diversified markets”.
In addition to Alliance Wealth, Centrepoint’s two other AFSLs include Professional Investment Services and Matrix Planning Solutions.
Money Management recently explored how the top licensee rankings could look at the beginning of next year, once AMP sells the majority of its advice business to Entireti and AZ NGA. With the combined Entireti/AMP mega licence expected to lead in first place, Count would likely be the second-largest AFSL while Centrepoint could be in the third spot.
Although Centrepoint has been quieter on the M&A front, it is gaining ground from adviser recruitment with a national presence across all states.
Following Alliance Wealth, QInvest – a subsidiary of Australian Retirement Trust – came in second for gains over Q2 with eight advisers.
The next three positions, taken up by Vincents Advisory, FF Financial Services and Boutique Advisers, all grew by seven advisers each.
Adviser Ratings’ top 10 licensees for adviser growth are as follows:
| Licensee | Quarterly adviser growth |
| Alliance Wealth | 12 |
| QInvest | 8 |
| Vincents Advisory | 7 |
| FF Financial Services | 7 |
| Boutique Advisers | 7 |
| AHR Private Wealth | 6 |
| PSK Advisory Services | 5 |
| Spark Advisors Australia | 5 |
| Lambourne Financial Services | 5 |
| The Wealth Emporium | 4 |
Adviser losses
On the other end of the spectrum, Merit Wealth saw the highest losses of 21 advisers during Q2. The licensee was previously owned by Diverger, which merged with Count in March 2024. Count’s AFSL also bid farewell to seven advisers.
AMP Financial Planning, which will soon be under Entireti’s ownership by the year’s end, declined by 19 advisers. Coupled with Charter Financial Planning, AMP’s top two licensees collectively lost over two dozen advisers to a variety of AFSLs.
Insignia Financial’s recent separation of Rhombus Advisory, alongside AMP’s major changes, will significantly shift advice service models, Adviser Ratings noted.
“Both changes will affect not only the landscape on licensee group sizes, but also changes in service models given the current difficulty in profitability that these groups have with competing product lines and listed requirements to adhere to.”
The top 10 licensees for adviser losses are as follows:
| Licensee | Quarterly adviser losses |
| Merit Wealth | 21 |
| AMP Financial Planning | 19 |
| Sunsuper Financial Services | 18 |
| Millennium3 Financial Services | 11 |
| Fortnum Private Wealth | 10 |
| Personal Financial Services | 9 |
| InterPrac Financial Planning | 9 |
| Boutique Advisers Private Wealth | 8 |
| Consultum Financial Advisers | 7 |
| Count Financial | 7 |
AUTHOR
Jasmine Siljic
Recommended for you
Digital advice tools are on the rise, but licensees will need to ensure they still meet adviser obligations or potentially risk a class action if clients lose money from a rogue algorithm.
Shaw and Partners has merged with Sydney wealth manager Kennedy Partners Wealth, while Ord Minnett has hired a private wealth adviser from Morgan Stanley.
Australian investors are more confident than their APAC peers in reaching their financial goals and are targeting annual gains of more than 10 per cent, according to Fidelity International.
Zenith Investment Partners has lost its head of portfolio solutions Steven Tang after 17 years with the firm, the latest in a series of senior exits from the research house.
