Two licensees are leading the start of the financial year’s gains with more than 10 new advisers each, according to Padua Wealth Data.

At the start of the year, it looked like a negative period was afoot after numbers dropped below 15,000 for the first time after 271 advisers exited between 28 May and 30 June. However, 10 days later, the numbers have rebounded back to 15,032 with 46 licensee owners reporting gains of 39 advisers.

A total of 104 advisers were affected by appointments and/or resignations during week which was described by Wealth Data as a “strong intake” to kick off the new year.

Leading the way is Entireti & Akumin which has taken on 13 advisers, continuing its streak as Australia’s largest licensee with over 1,000 advisers.

This was followed by Centrepoint Alliance in second place which gained 11 advisers.

While the majority went into large licensees such as WT Financial and Rhombus, some boutique licensees were among the leaders.

This included Melbourne advice firm George Sabini which took on seven to bring its total to 10, Sydney-based Sofie Korac/Springboard which took on six to reach 10 advisers and a new licensee called RGHB which took on five.

Commenting, Padua Wealth Data founder Colin Williams, said: “It is an encouraging early spread, reflecting both the larger groups recruiting and the steady flow of advisers setting up or joining their own AFSLs, the pattern we typically see at the start of a new financial year.

“We also saw many advisers who resigned from their old licensee in June and commenced with their new licensee in July.”

Licensee
Gains in FY26
Total advisers

Entireti & Akumin
13
1,084

Centrepoint Group
11
590

George Sabini
7
10

Sofia Korac
6
10

WT Financial Group
5
527

Spark Partnership
5
100

Rhombus
5
470

RGHB
5
5

Lifespan
5
302

Source: Padua Wealth Data, July 2026

The flow of new advisers since the start of the financial year has been helped by the recent exam passers which had a 71.7 per cent pass rate and led to 20 new entrants coming onto the FAR during the week, double the volume of new entrants who joined in the week after the March exam results announcement.

June’s pass rate was consistent with March’s sitting which had a pass rate of 71.6 per cent but welcome relief after fluctuating pass marks during 2025 when the mark got as low as 66 per cent in June 2025.

To date, 22,748 individual candidates have sat the exam and 21,113 (92.8%) of candidates have passed the exam.

The next ASIC advice exam will be held on 20 August 2026. The booking period for this exam opens 17 July 2026 and closes 7 August 2026.