Financial adviser numbers have gained headway this week, marking a departure from six consecutive weeks of losses.
A net growth of 39 advisers was seen over the past week in the advice sector, according to Wealth Data analysis.
The positive result was largely anticipated, commented Wealth Data founder Colin Williams, as many advisers tend to switch licensees at the beginning of the financial year.
“Many of these advisers had ceased in the previous financial year and ‘switched’ to their new licensee, at the beginning of this financial year,” he explained.
Last week, which included the last three days of FY2023–24, saw a net decline of 78 advisers following 81 in the previous week to total 159 losses. Williams said the losses over the two weeks were “a lot more than he thought” given earlier gains.
This led him to conclude that overall sums for the 2024 calendar year would be worse than initially expected despite a strong start to the year.
Prior to this week’s growth, there had been six consecutive weeks of losses in the lead-up to the new financial year.
Williams added: “It was another productive week for new entrants, with 21 new advisers registered, bringing the total to 41 for the beginning of July. I presume that there is some advantage in starting new advisers after 30 June.”
Looking at the growth, 39 licensee owners had net gains of 54 advisers in total. Insignia Financial welcomed seven advisers to its ranks after it appointed five new entrants, saw one adviser join from Centrepoint’s Alliance Wealth and another switch internally after a short break.
AvalonFS were up by six advisers, however, all six had ceased in late June and were then reappointed in the first week of July, Williams noted.
Four licensees increased by two advisers each. This included a new licensee which commenced with advisers who were previously at Advice Evolution.
A long tail of 33 licensee owners were up by one adviser each, including Fortnum, Centrepoint, Capstone Financial Planning and another new licensee.
In terms of losses for the week, 12 licensee owners had net losses of 13 advisers in total. AMP Group declined by two advisers, with three ceasing (then backdating into June) and one joining from Godfrey Pembroke.
A short tail of 11 licensee owners lost one adviser each, such as Findex Group, Infocus, Morgan Stanley and a licensee that closed down.
