The Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals (AIOFP) said that, unlike its peers, it made a $52,503 profit and increased its member numbers by 19 per cent in the year to 30 June.
In a statement to ifa, executive director Peter Johnston, revealed that AIOFP had decided to reveal its results following an influx of member enquiries prompted by the recently published results of its “competitors”.
“We are pleased to inform you that the AIOFP made a $52,503 profit and increased our membership by 19 per cent for the period, an excellent outcome taking into account the overall market conditions,” Mr Johnston said.
“We attribute the results to always acting in the best interests of our members and their clients”.
Mr Johnston reported that AIOFP’s total number of AFS licensees was 123 at 30 June, representing around 4,000 authorised representatives, while its direct individual member count stood at 920.
Earlier this week, the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) said it recorded a $2.2 million slump in revenue since 2018 to $2.8 million at the end of June.
This financial contraction reflected a decline in AFA member numbers, which over the last two financial years have rapidly dropped from 4,107 at the end of June 2020 to 3,664 on 30 June 2021, and most recently 3,292 on 30 June 2022.
At the end of financial year 2022, the AFA saw its net loss after income tax expand to $113,924 from $16,000 a year earlier.
The group explained that given its eroding balance sheet and having forecasted further pressures on stakeholders and downward trends within the advice sector, coupled with a long lead time to supplement the number of exiting advisers, the merger proposal with the Financial Planning Associations (FPA) emerged as a solution that promises to safeguard the long-term needs of the AFA members.
Earlier this month, the FPA revealed it recorded a before-tax deficit of $1.2 million for the year ended 30 June, compared to a $1.3 million surplus a year earlier.
Its member numbers decreased by 7 per cent over the reviewed period, while accumulated members’ funds followed the downward trend to reach $11.6 million at the end of June from $12.8 million a year earlier.
The AIOFP is expected to make its audited accounts available at its Annual General Meeting on 9 December.
How is it that one association ( the one that actually puts its members first ) can continue to grow and make a profit whilst the two major “adviser” associations that put everyone else first, sides with the government, major financial institutions, and industry superannuation funds are loosing members and making huge losses. Maybe its time for the AFA & FPA to actual wake up and listen to to the advisers rather than themselves.
Great work Peter and to your team! It’s amazing that people are actually surprised that this is the result. An adviser association should only be for advisers and to support and protect them as they support and protect their clients who trust them.
The AIOFP claim to have 920 individual members, however only a few hundred have included the AIOFP as their membership on the Financial Adviser Register. Are the AIOFP exaggerating, or are their members a bit hesitant about disclosing their membership of the AIOFP?