It was reported in mid-December that Morgans Financial had emerged as the country’s largest individual licensee, edging past AMP Financial Planning (AMPFP) – which had been the leader since the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) records began.
However, figures from Wealth Data this week show that AMPFP has leap-frogged over Morgans and reclaimed its title as the largest Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensee with 430 advisers in total, one ahead of Morgans.
This was thanks to three new entrants joining the licensee, Wealth Data noted. The AMPFP licence sits alongside Charter Financial Planning and Hillross under the Entireti umbrella, following the completion of the AMP divestment last month.
The advice profession saw a net growth of 13 advisers in the week ending 16 January 2025, prompting overall numbers to hit 15,494.
Some 16 new entrants commenced and 68 advisers were active with appointments or resignations. Meanwhile, two new licensees opened up shop and zero ceased operations.
The calendar year-to-date (YTD) numbers currently look positive at +17, while the financial YTD figures stand at +153.
“As usual, at the start of a new year, most resignations were recorded last year, and new appointments began in the new year,” said Colin Williams, founder and director of Wealth Data.
In terms of adviser growth over the week, 26 licensee owners experienced net gains of 41 advisers in total.
Arthur J Gallagher & Co (Gallagher Benefit Services) welcomed eight advisers, with all advisers still authorised at Mont Partners.
Entireti increased by four advisers after it appointed five and lost one to Sentry Advice, which is owned by rival firm WT Financial Group.
Five licensee owners were up by net two advisers each, such as Lifespan Financial Planning and Capstone, alongside a tail of 19 owners that welcomed one adviser each. This included Insignia Financial, Sequoia Financial Group and WT Financial.
Looking at losses for the week, 15 licensee owners reported collective net losses of 21 advisers.
Count decreased by six advisers after it bid farewell to one adviser from GPS Wealth and five from the main Count AFS licensee.
PictureWealth declined by two advisers and a small tail of 13 licensee owners lost one adviser each, such as Centrepoint Alliance, Rhombus Advisory and Findex.
