Adviser exodus resumes as Macquarie loses 9

The number of advisers in the profession now sits at 15,688, falling a total of 12 advisers for the week ending 23 November.

“The adviser count experienced a notable dip, influenced primarily by the Macquarie Group’s releasing nine advisers,” said Wealth Data founder Colin Williams.

“This week also marked a low influx of new entrants, with only two joining the industry – one of the smallest numbers recorded this year.”

Following the drop of 12 advisers this week, there has now been a net loss of 111 in the calendar year; however, there has still been an increase of 129 for the financial year so far.

The fall comes after a net growth of 18 advisers last week, helped along by nine new entrants, which represented the first double-digit increase since the end of September. Prior to this, there had been three consecutive weeks of losses, and the latest numbers suggest last week may have been a momentary bump on an otherwise consistent downward trajectory.

Centrepoint was the only licensee owner to grow by three advisers for the week, with all three being added to Alliance Wealth. Two of the advisers came from the now ceased Bough Financial.

WT Financial Group, Spark Financial Group, Industry Super Holdings, Diverger, Sentinel Wealth, and a new licensee all added two advisers this week, while Clime Group, Australian Retirement Trust, and AMP Group were among 17 licensee owners up net one adviser each.

The previously mentioned Macquarie Group accounted for a large chunk of the advisers exiting the Financial Advisers Register (FAR) this week, dropping a total of nine.

“At the licensee level, Macquarie Bank and Macquarie Equities lost seven advisers each. However, most of the advisers were authorised at both licensees,” Mr Williams added.

Capstone has now lost 13 advisers in the last month, and 17 in the last three months, after it fell by four in the week to 23 November. Insignia and Mercer both lost three advisers this week, while Viridian, PictureWealth, and Sequoia were among the six licensees to lose two advisers each.

There were also 12 licensee owners down by one adviser each, including Castleguard Trust (Lifespan), Shaw and Partners, and Count Group.