{"id":80864,"date":"2026-01-30T12:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T01:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/?p=80864"},"modified":"2026-02-05T16:06:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T05:06:27","slug":"adviser-numbers-edge-higher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/2026\/01\/30\/adviser-numbers-edge-higher\/","title":{"rendered":"Adviser Numbers Edge Higher"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The net number of advisers increased by two to 15,138 over the past week, according to the latest stats.<\/p>\n

Citing ASIC data, Colin Williams<\/strong>, Data Manager at Padua Wealth, says weekly adviser movement has slowed compared with recent weeks \u2013 with six new entrants recorded since 1 January \u2013 taking the total number of new advisers to 37 so far this year.<\/p>\n

Last year saw a drop of 394 advisers, much of which occurred in December due to new qualification requirements. While more than 440 advisers ceased in December, the net loss was softened by new entrants and returning advisers, bringing the net loss for the month to 330, significantly less than previously anticipated.<\/p>\n

Still, charts produced by Padua Wealth puts the longer-term trend in adviser numbers into sharp focus, showing adviser numbers have fallen from 27,926 in 2018 to 15,079 by 31 December 2025, before starting to climb this month.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Data ASIC, Graphic Padua Wealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A second chart also highlights fluctuations in adviser attrition since 2019.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Data ASIC, Graphic Padua Wealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Experienced Pathway<\/strong><\/p>\n

Analysis of the latest ASIC weekly ‘point-in-time’ data dated 22 January \u2013 designed to track adviser qualifications and the Experienced Pathway \u2013 and cross-referenced with the Financial Advisers Register, reveals ongoing compliance challenges.<\/p>\n

According to Williams, 130 advisers have not yet indicated whether they intend to take up the Experienced Pathway and continue to appear as not meeting the 2026 education standards (the figure is down from 185 the previous week).<\/p>\n

Of the 130 advisers:<\/p>\n

\"Colin
Colin Williams.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n
  • 114 are authorised under licensees with fewer than 10 advisers<\/li>\n
  • 69 may potentially be eligible for the Experienced Pathway<\/li>\n
  • 28 have indicated they will not pursue the EP despite holding no recognised qualifications<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The data also indicates that 66 advisers who have flagged their intention to use the Experienced Pathway sat the FASEA exam after October 2022, \u201cmaking them likely ineligible under current EP rules\u201d.<\/p>\n

    Responding to questions put by Riskinfo, Williams says that of the total adviser population, 12,903 are authorised to offer risk products, and 32.5% (4,193) work in firms with fewer than 20 advisers.<\/p>\n

    His deeper analysis of official data shows that when advisers are broken down by \u201cpure risk\u201d \u2013 those unable to offer superannuation advice \u2013 there are just 41.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIf we look at advisers authorised for risk and super only, meaning they can\u2019t provide advice on non-super investments, the number increases to 474,\u201d says Williams.<\/p>\n

    \u201cHowever, a large number of these advisers work for industry super funds and don\u2019t advise outside of super. When removing super fund advisers, the number drops to around 300.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIn my experience, specialist risk advisers are generally also authorised to provide advice on super. They may not offer super investment advice, but they need to be authorised to understand the issues that can arise from the type of risk cover available within super funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Key adviser movements for the week:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • 15,138 current advisers<\/li>\n
    • Net change: +2 advisers<\/li>\n
    • 23 licensee owners recorded net gains totalling 29 advisers<\/li>\n
    • 17 licensee owners recorded net losses totalling 27 advisers<\/li>\n
    • Two new licensees commenced and one ceased<\/li>\n
    • Six new entrants<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The net number of advisers increased by two to 15,138 over the past week, according to the latest stats. Citing ASIC data, Colin Williams, Data Manager at Padua Wealth, says weekly adviser movement has slowed compared with recent weeks \u2013 with six new entrants recorded since 1 January \u2013 taking the total number of new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":80875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,3,8291],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-80864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-company-news","8":"category-general","9":"category-story-of-the-week"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}