Adviser numbers plateau

The number of financial advisers in Australia appears to be stabilising at 15,602, as Count and AMP Financial Planning continue to hold the lion's share.

Rainmaker's analysis of the ASIC Financial Adviser Register (FAR) shows that the population dipped 2% from 15,881 this time last year.

The numbers appear to waver around this figure as in mid-2023, when the FAR recorded about 15,708 advisers.

AMP Financial Planning continues to hold the top spot with 472 representatives, closely followed by Morgans Financial's 423 and Count's 350 advisers.

Interprac Financial Planning (326), Alliance Wealth (318), Charter Financial Planning (294), Consultum Financial Advisers (287), Lifespan Financial Planning (282), Synchron (260), and Ord Minnett (259) comprise the top 10 dealer groups in the country.

In a new feature on ASIC's latest FAR data, there are currently 216 advisers that have undergone disciplinary actions. The dataset details the person's name, the type of disciplinary action, and adviser status.

The disciplinary actions break down into AFS banned/disqualification, enforceable undertaking, disqualified person, credit banned/disqualification, Financial Services Credit Panel (FSCP) action, and SMSF auditor disqualification.

The advice sector continues to consolidate. AZ NGA-backed advice firms Eureka Whittaker Macnaught (EWM) and Blue Harbour Financial Partners recently announced their merger.

Last year, major mergers and acquisitions included Insignia Financial selling Millennium3 to ASX-listed WT Financial Group (WTL) with a total of 75 practices transitioning.

Count finalised its takeover of Diverger last month.