The financial advice industry has fallen by triple digits for the third week in a row, according to Wealth Data, with year to date licensee closures more than double the previous corresponding period.
Over 100 more advisers have left the industry this week compared to the previous week as ASIC catches up with those who have left due to failing the financial adviser exam.
Demand for financial advice is expected to surge in the next two years with 2.6 million non-advised Australians intending to seek professional help, according to a survey from the Financial Planning Association.
The roadblocks that have been put onto the advice industry will not affect the big end of town accessing advice, only the ones that need advice the most, according to Connect Financial Service Brokers.
Net change advisers roles (licence owners > 50 current advisers)
Source: HFS Consulting
Colin Williams, director at HFS, told
Money Management that the losses at IOOF and MLC would be very worrying across the board as they were building a momentum of their own which would be hard to stop in the short term.
“Another issue will be the number of advisers who may drop out due to not completing the FASEA exam,” he said.
“The latest figures out of FASEA are not encouraging and those losses could be very high for a lot of licensees including those owned IOOF and MLC.”