On 17 June, Australian fintech wealth advice company PictureWealth Group announced its acquisition of AFSL Capstone Financial Planning and its 220 advisers, combined with its 147 advisers, the group now has 368 under its purview.
Prior to the merger, Capstone had been sitting at the bottom of the 10 largest licensees based on adviser numbers.
However, with the newly-bolstered headcount, Padua Wealth Data founder Colin Williams said the group is sitting in seventh place, meaning three licensees got knocked down rung. The new rankings, as at 18 June, stand as follows:
- Entireti
- Centrepoint
- WT Financial
- Count
- Rhombus
- Morgans
- PictureWealth
- Lifespan
- Ord Minnett
- NAB Bank
This marks the second time in three weeks that there has been a reshuffle on the AFSL leaderboard after WT Financial Group overtook Count Limited to take third place on the ladder in the first week of June.
While WT has been on a strong growth trajectory for some time now, the change is a result of Count winding up its restricted SMSF and limited advice services, knocking 26 advisers off its headcount. At of 4 June, the difference between the pair was just two advisers with a total of 529 and 527, respectively.
In fact, this is the second time in just over six months that Count has slipped. Back in December, Centrepoint Alliance knocked Count from second.
Weekly movements
Looking at the broader licensee space, Esencia Wealth saw a net gain of four advisers this week, all of which joined from Cove Private Wealth, and AvalonFS picked up another two advisers from Sequoia’s InterPrac licensee.
In a “rare gain” for the limited advice sector, the National Tax and Accountants’ Association (NTAA) was up by net two, with Williams noting that this space has otherwise been a strong driver of much of the losses from the last 12 months.
A tail of 16 licensees were up by net one adviser each, including Morgans Group, Shaw and Partners, and Hewison and Associates.
Turning to the losses, Sequoia has once again found itself at the top of the list with another eight advisers leaving the troubled InterPrac licensee with one heading to PictureWealth, two leaving to set up their own licensee, as well as the two who left for AvalonFS.
The remaining four are yet to be reappointed elsewhere while the steady outflow has seen the licensee halve since the start of the year, dropping from 282 advisers down to 140.
Cove Private Wealth lost its last four advisers and is now down to zero, while four licensees lost net two advisers each – NAB Bank, Lifespan, Private Wealth Partners Group and Rhombus Enterprises – with none of them appointed elsewhere as yet.
A tail of 25 licensees had a net loss of one adviser each, including Entireti and Akumin, Fiducian Financial Group and Daintree.
Turning to the overall industry shifts, the profession was hit with its third consecutive week of declines with a net loss of 21 in the week ending 18 June, bringing the total individuals on the Financial Adviser Register (FAR) down to 15,099.
So far, June has seen a net loss of 71 advisers as it swings into the hottest time of year for adviser exits ahead of 30 June. The financial year-to-date (YTD) net change is likewise at a loss of 71 while the calendar YTD is holding on to a positive result still at a net gain of 44.
This presents a challenging reality for the profession compared to this time last when – as of the week ending 19 June 2025 – it was at a net loss of 58 for the first three weeks of the month, while the calendar and financial YTD were both sitting in the positive at 68 and 199, respectively.
Coming back to the present, it was another slow week for new entrants with just five joining, though this is still better than two last week. Meanwhile, two new licensees commenced and four ceased, and 71 advisers were active in appointments and resignation.
