Institutional ownership myth destroyed by ASIC data
The myth of institutional domination of financial advice has been exploded by data collected by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) which reveals AMP and the ‘big four' banks only control 39 per cent of financial advisers.
The data also shows that total institutional control of financial advisers is only at 48 per cent and that total planner numbers in the retail advice sector are at 22,500.
The numbers are drawn from the ASIC Financial Adviser Register and show there are 1220 Australian Financial Services Licence holders offering financial advice listed on the register with AMP and the banks holding 21 of those licences and 8533 advisers, or 39.2 per cent of all advisers on the register.
A further 18 licences are held by institutions with a total of 2008 planners under those licences, totalling 10541 planners, or 48.4 per cent of advisers in the register operating under institutions.
These numbers match closely to the Money Management 2014 Top 100 Dealer Group survey data which found that AMP and the banks had 9022 planners in 2014 while all institutions had 10851 planners in 2014, both of which were down from 2013.
The ASIC adviser register indicates there are around 3000 planners working under licences that have 10 planners or less, around 5300 planners working under licences that have 11-100 planners and 14200 working under licences that have 100 or more advisers. This latter group are concentrated within 50 planning groups, with the average number of advisers across those 50 group at 285, with the average number of planners per licence across the total register at 18.
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
Recommended for you
Advice licensee WT Financial has announced a 50/50 joint venture with the Australian subsidiary of a US financial advice investor.
Wealth managers will need to reach aggressive short-term goals to grow their assets under management, according to Natixis Investment Managers, but Asia-Pacific has the lowest expectations on their future growth.
With a rising number of licensees opting for bespoke managed accounts, a panel of experts has shared what firms need to know before going down the custom route.
ASIC has banned a Queensland adviser from providing financial services for five years after failing to provide appropriate advice that was in the best interest of his clients.
