Clockwise from top left: Karen Eleyu, Steven Fine, Simon Burke and Peter Horsfield
While researchers and
Professional Planner poll respondents predict adviser numbers will soon drop to 13,000 and below, many industry observers quietly predict the number will settle at a far more conservative 15,000 to 17,000.
A recent
Professional Planner poll asking advisers “
How low will registered adviser numbers go before they stabilise and start to grow again?” received a grim response; 17 per cent believe the number will reach 13,000 and a further 52 per cent said the number would fall below 13,000, giving a total of 69 per cent that see adviser numbers falling to
Advice industry participants have unified in opposition to a significant increase in the annual adviser levy, and questioned the efficacy of an industry funding model that penalises compliant advisers for breaches committed by those that have left the industry.
The latest adviser levy for FY19/20 came in at $1500 per licensee plus $2,426 per adviser, with the adviser portion increasing from $1,142 in FY18/19 and $934 in FY17/18.
That’s an increase of 160 per cent in two years for an adviser cohort already struggling with the cost to serve.
This increase is also being concentrated across advisers providing retail advice; wholesale advisers have a separate levy, which this year sits at $29 per adviser.