According to the group’s weekly adviser movements update, 78 advisers left the industry in the week to 24 December 2020, which was “a big uptick from prior weeks”, Adviser Ratings founder Angus Woods said.
Including data from Adviser Ratings’ earlier adviser movements updates for the month, it’s estimated that almost 250 practitioners left in December, with the industry exodus continuing as many made the choice to retire at the end of the calendar year.
A further 14 advisers switched licensees during the week, with mid-tier privately owned licensees being the primary beneficiaries. Capstone Financial Planning gained three new advisers, with the group having grown by 60 advisers over the past two years.
Similarly Lifespan Financial Planning also added three new advisers, having expanded its footprint from 182 advisers in December 2018 to 268 currently.
While two new advisers joined AMP’s employed advice business ipac in the week to 24 December, the institution continued to rapidly shed advisers overall, with ipac’s adviser numbers falling from 138 in December 2018 to 85 currently.
AMP Financial Planning also shrunk to 820 advisers from 1,414 in December 2018, with the group now sitting at second on the licensee table behind accounting and advice group the SMSF Advisers Network.
There was further movement in the accounting space with two advisers moving from IOOF-aligned Lonsdale to accounting firm Leenane Templeton as the group expanded into the financial planning space, while BDO’s eastern corporate finance division wound down its financial services licence to exit advice.
The data also revealed a significant drop-off in advisers at Lonsdale, which had shrunk from 225 advisers in December 2018 to 151 currently. IOOF recently revealed the group would combine with former ANZ licensee Millennium3 to form a ‘specialised’ advice division under its new Advice 2.0 strategy.
Advisers also continued to leave the MLC-aligned Garvan ahead of the closure of the licence when the group’s sale to IOOF completes, with adviser numbers down from 487 in December 2018 to 412 at present.
Meanwhile, TAL-owned Affinia Financial Advisers lost five practitioners in the week to 24 December, but demonstrated strong growth overall with 192 advisers now in the network compared with 162 at the end of 2018.
Here is a good question… if adviser numbers are declining and adviser entrants are effectively zero… why wouldn’t existing advisers want to adopt technology like robo-advice? It won’t replace the few advisers that are left and the remaining advisers won’t have any competition. There is an inevitable point that robo-advice WILL surpass what a human can provide, much like a self-driving car will take over from human drivers. While a self-driving car is not the fastest (right now) but ultimately it is the safest bet (which is what counts) and it is the mode of transport that will provide the greatest benefit to society.
Back the right horse, folks.
Thanks Ms Hume for your always pro Robo Advice comments and push.
I guess we won’t need Drs or Lawyers or any professional service providers as it will all be done by Robo Advice hey Ms Hume :-/
Because the remaining advisers are professionals who fully consider their client’s broader circumstances, and recommend strategies and products that are appropriate for the client’s overall situation.
“Roboadvice” is a simplistic electronic sales tool for inhouse investment products. It replicates what conflicted, poor quality advisers used to do. It would be a backward step to return to those ways, even if they can be implemented more cheaply now.
I find this sad but it is only another 820 advisers to go from AMP before they get put into the rubbish heap where they belong.
I’ll be making it 819 to go if things pan out as hoped for me this year. A dog’s breakfast would be a kind description of how that place is being managed at the moment.
You are being harsh aren’t you? Some AMP advisors are good operators.
It is sad that our regulators and political leaders were blind to this situation. Worst of all, average Australians will be worse off – limited access to advice as well as massive increases to their adviser fees.
Oh well, at least the consumer groups like CHOICE Magazine can keep telling everyone how they helped with transforming he industry.
Well done to the know it all, incompetent, corrupt regulators and the clueless government. My fees will be going up and up to cover the cost and risk of further compliance and the ever present risk of stepping on a compliance bomb that I didnt see or has been detrimentally interpreted against me. I will no longer take on small clients and will not take on the rats and mice from exiting advisers.
10,000 remaining by 31 December this year.
I bet 8,763, still a few thousand too many.