The overall number of advisers dropped by 603 between 23 December, 2021, and the second week of January, 2022, with many more losses expected in the coming weeks as a result of the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) exam, according to Wealth Data.
However, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) was in the middle of finding a process on how to update their data sets and this caused a delay in reporting.
According to most recent data, as at 13 January, there were 17,670 current advisers listed on ASIC’s Financial Adviser Register (FAR).
Source: WealthData
SMSF Advisers Network, which was owned by the National Tax and Accountants’ Association (NTAA), posted the highest loss of 90 advisers. As a result of this, AMP Financial Planning was once again the largest licensee.
Diverger Group (formerly known as Easton Investment) and Sequoia Group saw the second and the third highest number of adviser departures during this period posting a loss of 63 and 34 advisers, respectively.
By comparison, AMP Group which had slightly above 1,100 advisers saw a departure of 14 roles during the same period.
Source: Wealth Data
However, when analysing the data year-on-year, institutional groups were still leading the ranking with three-digit losses each.
Insignia Financial (formerly known as IOOF), which had jointly 1,246 advisers on their books, saw a departure of 190 advisers since January 2021, and was followed by AMP Group which was down by 172 advisers.
CBA took the highest hit with a loss of 194 advisers and SMSF Adviser Network saw a departure of 121 advisers who are no longer listed on the ASIC’s FAR.
Source: Wealth Data
