Fiducian Group statutory profit falls 28%

Fiducian Group's statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) has slipped nearly 30% in the 12 months to June end compared to FY25 due to ASIC's penalty of $7.3 million imposed for greenwashing.

Fiducian chair Inderjit Singh said excluding the non-recurring item, the group has maintained positive momentum across all three operating segments, including financial planning, platform administration and funds management.

Funds under management, advice and administration surged over $1 billion to $15.9 billion in the period.

Statutory NPAT was $13.4 million, 28% lower than the prior year ($18.6 million), and statutory earnings per share eased to 42.5 cents, down from 58.9 cents in 2025.

"This reduction is attributable entirely to a one-off ASIC penalty and ASIC's costs of $7.95 million recognised during the year," Fiducian said.

Notably, final dividends per share was 28.20 cents, fully franked, a slight improvement from the previously corresponding period of24.7 cents.

Meanwhile, during the financial year, funds under advice grew by $500 million, as Singh said its advisers "continue to deliver superior-quality advice, predominantly through face-to-face interactions, which have played a key role in driving net inflows."

During the year, the group funded $1.2 million to assist several franchisees in acquisition, while $3.4 million worth of client books were also added. Net inflows of $264 million were received on the Fiducian platform during the year from Fiducian Financial Services.

It is also steadily expanded its digital advice solutions, while additional staff and application of artificial intelligence (AI), including AI agents for meeting notes, were implemented to strengthen compliance activity.

Singh said the focus will continue to be on generating inflows through both organic and inorganic growth, including further acquisitions of client bases that can be readily assimilated, and the onboarding of franchised offices that demonstrate a strong cultural fit with its existing network.

"We believe we may have one of the highest supervisory managements to financial adviser ratios in Australia; while this comes at a cost, we consider it essential to maintaining the quality, consistency and integrity of the advice provided," Singh continued.

Meantime, its funds under administration were $4.31 billion as at 30 June 2026, with overall growth driven by a combination of new inflows and market appreciation. Funds under administration attributable to IFAs now represent around 13% of the total, Singh said.

The introduction of its diversified funds through separately managed accounts (SMAs) has enabled the group to reduce its administration fees, which are getting closer to competing with industry fund fees and also against leading mainstream retail platforms that offer SMAs.

Singh also clarified that, following the additional licence conditions imposed by APRA earlier this year, independent experts were appointed to review all investment options on its platforms.

"It is pertinent to point out that Fiducian did not offer on its platforms, the failed funds mentioned recently in the media, and I can report that there have been no failures of investment products on Fiducian platforms," he said.

Further, following ASIC's action to the Fiducian Diversified Social Aspirations Fund (DSAF), the group engaged an independent expert to review all product disclosure statements across its fund range.

"Importantly, no investors suffered any financial loss," Singh said.

"Seventy-five percent of investors chose to stay with the underlying funds offered through the DSAF with the rest moving to other Fiducian funds or transacting their holdings. While this unfortunate one-off penalty has reduced statutory profit for the year, it has not impacted the underlying strength, profitability or future earning capabilities of the group."

Looking forward, accounting for the economic and market environment, Singh expects the group to continue to scale and deliver consistent double-digit earnings over the long-term.

"A key feature of the group is that it continues to maintain a clean balance sheet and remains debt free, with a positive working capital and cash flow position. Should circumstances warrant, the board may consider a capital raising or debt funding where suitable acquisitions or business growth opportunities are expected to deliver corresponding earnings per share growth," he said.

"Over the past 30 years, the consistency of our strategy has served the group well and enabled us to build the business to where we are today. By maintaining a rock-solid foundation and pursuing disciplined growth strategies, we have been able to scale on existing capacity while leveraging our controlled, relatively low fixed-cost base."