Data from Adviser Ratings’ 2024 Australian Financial Advice Landscape report and early findings from the 2025 edition has revealed that after the challenges of the last few years, the advice profession is staging a comeback with reports of considerable growth across a number of areas.
For example, despite the constraints of red tape and burdensome administration requirements, advisers have managed a slight growth in the number of recurring clients per adviser, increasing from a low of 83 in 2020 up to 97.
Additionally, the firm found that funds under advice (FUA) per client have increased by 10 per cent while the median adviser fees have increased by 26 per cent over the last three years.
Consequently, more than eight in 10 (83 per cent) practices have reported an increase in their revenue in the past year, with just 3 per cent experiencing a decline.
Meanwhile, the “most successful”, according to Adviser Ratings, are now hitting profit margins exceeding 40 per cent and increasing their revenue by more than 15 per cent year-on-year.
Although there are likely a number of contributing factors to this, the firm suggested that the move to more client-centric business models and practices has had a positive impact, particularly as practices utilising advanced client analytics report 15 per cent higher revenue per client and improved retention rates.
One of the key indicators of resilience noted by Adviser Ratings is the stabilisation of the number of registered financial advisers, which, after years of monumental losses, seem to have settled around 15,500.
In fact, the latest analysis from Wealth Data revealed that the profession has actually grown by 100 this calendar year, as at 3 April, bolstered by a 40 per cent increase in new entrants over Q1, bringing the current total advisers to 15,576.
Along with the data showing that 90 per cent of current advisers have no intention of leaving the profession, the firm said this is a “strong indicator” of advisers’ resilience.
“The industry has reached a point of equilibrium. With most advisers having completed their education requirements and gained clarity about the future of the profession, the vast majority of the current cohort have made it clear they are here to stay,” said Angus Woods, Adviser Ratings managing director.
