Twice as many advisers leaving than new entrants

According to the latest numbers from Wealth Data, 146 new entrants have joined the industry so far in 2023. Unfortunately, this number has been offset by 365 advisers having ceased as of 1 June 2023, which represents 2.3 per cent of advisers at the start of the year.

Roughly 240 advisers who had ceased prior to the end of 2022 have rejoined the Financial Advisers Register (FAR).

Wealth Data founder Colin Williams said: “The number of advisers returning tends to ebb and flow, especially around key dates such as the end and start of the calendar and financial years.

“It is a good time to do this exercise as all of the advisers that have ceased would have passed the Financial (FASEA) Exam. In addition, advisers who may have been considering retirement due to the need to gain an approved exam, would have known that an experienced pathway will be expected during 2023.”

The largest number of ceased advisers originally commenced prior to 2010, with 136 of that cohort exiting this year. This was followed by those that joined the FAR between January 2015 and December 2018, with 133 ceasing, 72 of which commenced in 2018 alone as part of a pre-FASEA rush.

Sixty-one advisers that joined the industry between January 2010 and December 2014 have exited so far in 2023, while the most recent segment (from 2019 to the present) has the fewest exits at just 35.

“We may see some of these advisers come back — the data is simply a ‘point in time picture’. However, we can also expect more resignations,” Mr Williams said.

“The data covers five months. If we project this out for 12 months, it would be 876 advisers or 5.5 per cent of the advisers who were on the FAR at the start of 2023. The numbers post the end and start of the financial year will be interesting to watch.”

In addition, 43 per cent of ceased advisers came from licensees that had 100 or more advisers, which is roughly in line with the current number of advisers at such licensees (42 per cent). Almost 6 per cent of ceased advisers belonged to licensees that now have zero advisers.

Earlier this week, Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones revealed that he will turn his attention to the new entrant pathway in the back half of 2023 in a bid to boost the number of advisers entering the profession.

In more recent adviser movements, in the week to 1 June, the industry contracted by 15 to 15,817, with two new entrants to the FAR.

Industry Super Holdings gained four advisers, with all coming from different licensees, while Mercer gained three, all also coming from different licensees.

Ashley Hann (Planet Money) gained two advisers from AMP, while 11 licensee owners gained one adviser each, including Centrepoint and LFG Financial Services.

Steinhardt Holdings (Infocus) saw the largest losses, down six for the week and 22 for the calendar year.

Australian Unity, Insignia, Perks Private Wealth, and Sequoia are among the six licensees that lost two advisers for the week to 1 June, while Capstone, Clime, and Count were among the 18 licensee owners that fell by one adviser each.