Will AMP regain top spot this year?
Adviser numbers have dropped by 34 this week with losses dominated by Insignia group falling by 31 advisers and Insignia subsidiary Bridges falling by 29, according to Wealth Data.
Insignia had noted in an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in April that its ‘advice simplification strategy’ would mean Bridges and MLC Advice advisers would be integrated into Insignia.
With Insignia currently sitting at 1,154 advisers and AMP Group at 1,077, Wealth Data’s Colin Williams asked whether AMP Group would regain the top spot of the most advisers later this year.
Licensee owner Jason V Davis (Avana Financial Solutions) was down five with a practice breaking away. Morgans was down three and a closed licensee fell by two. Diverger was also down two with a tail of 25 licensee owners down one including Fortnum and Macquarie Group.
Most growth this week came from a new licensee kicking off with five advisers. Minchin Moore picked up three advisers after a merger with Professional Wealth Pty Ltd, with all three advisers authorised at both licensees. A new licensee with three advisers also commenced this week.
Four licensee owners picked up a net two advisers including WT Financial Group adding one new adviser and one Provisional Adviser at its Synchron licensee. SDQ Investment, trading under Solace, also picked up two advisers from Morgans.
A tail of 19 licensee owners picking up by a net of one each including Count, Spark Partnership and Castleguard (Lifespan).
Recommended for you
As the first quarter of 2024 comes to a close, Money Management looks back on the corporate regulator’s bans and AFSL cancellations in the financial advice sector.
Insignia Financial is holding ‘relatively steady’ onto its rank as Australia’s second-largest financial advice licensee after the Godfrey Pembroke exit but Count is hot on its heels.
Liberal senator Slade Brockman has said the government needs to have a “cold hard look” at the level of regulation in the financial advice space and the costs of running a business.
FAAA chief executive, Sarah Abood, has warned changes in the first tranche of the QAR legislation around advice fees documentation could create more work for advisers rather than less.