Less than a third of advisers pass Feb exam
The percentage of advisers who passed February’s exam, the first one run by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has fallen to 32.4%.
Some 333 advisers sat the exam and 32.4% passed (108 candidates).
Almost three-quarters of candidates were re-sitting the exam for at least the second time. This compared to 52% of candidates passing in the November exam, which was the lowest pass rate of all exams run by the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA).
Since the exam was introduced, almost 20,000 advisers had sat the exam and 91% of them had passed.
Over 15,600 were recorded as current financial advisers on ASIC’s Financial Adviser Register (FAR), representing 90% of current advisers on the FAR.
Over 2,260 were ceased advisers on the Financial Adviser Register (FAR) and may be re-authorised in the future while over 480 were new to the industry.
ASIC said candidates would receive feedback from Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) if they had been unsuccessful.
The next exam sitting would be held on 12-16 May and enrolments would open on 4 April.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Recommended for you
Sequoia Financial Group has declined by five financial advisers in the past week, four of whom have opened up a new AFSL, according to Wealth Data.
Insignia Financial chief executive Scott Hartley has detailed whether the firm will be selecting an exclusive bidder for the second phase of due diligence as it awaits revised bids from three private equity players.
Insignia Financial has reported a statutory net loss after tax of $17 million in its first half results, although the firm has noted cost optimisation means this is an improvement from a $50 million loss last year.
With alternative funds being described as “impossible” for fund managers to target towards advisers without the support of BDMs for education, Money Management explores the evolving nature of the distribution role.
