Solid month for new entrant gains
There have now been four consecutive weeks of double-digit rises in the number of new entrants this week, according to Wealth Data.
In the week to 12 October, there were 16 new entrants who entered the financial advice market.
This followed rises of 14, 19 and 10 in the preceding three weeks, helped by a 73 per cent pass rate of the latest financial adviser exam in August.
The figures come as Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) reported a skills shortage of financial advisers in Australia.
Financial investment advisers are one of 66 occupations assessed as being “in shortage” in 2023 when they had not been in 2022.
“While underlying drivers of shortages can vary across occupations, it is anticipated that these shortages reflect either a lack of people who have the essential technical skills or other (non-technical) qualities that employers consider are important; or those with the right technical skills and other qualities who aren’t willing to apply for the vacancies under current pay and working conditions,” the JSA report said.
Overall, the number of advisers grew by nine in the week, bringing the total number to 15,701. This compared to a loss of 18 in the previous week.
There were 29 licensee owners who had net gains of 34 advisers, and 19 licensee owners had net losses of 25 advisers.
Five licensee owners were up by two, including Mancell Family Trust (FYG Planners), Morgan Stanley and Momentum Advice.
A further tail of 24 licensee owners were up by one each, many of which were new entrants including Sequoia, Insignia and Centrepoint.
Looking at losses, Janus Financial lost three advisers from the Akambo licensee, and four licensees were down by two including Count, Fitzpatricks, Navora and Fortnum. In the case of Navora, the firm now has zero advisers.
Fiducian, AIA Company and Guideway were among 14 licensees which were down by one each.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Recommended for you
High-net-worth advisers seeking to grow their businesses are likely to find alternatives to be a key part of the puzzle amid investor demand, according to Praemium’s head of private wealth.
The financial advice profession has lifted back above the 15,500 mark this week thanks to a double-digit net rise in adviser numbers, according to Wealth Data.
A closer watch on licensees that fall short on cyber security protections is among a dozen new enforcement priorities announced by the corporate regulator for 2025.
Research house Morningstar has welcomed a new director for manager research to cover Australian and New Zealand fund managers.
