ADVISERS QUIT IN DROVES

FINANCIAL adviser numbers have reached a five-year low as thousands have dropped out of the embattled sector in the wake of the Hayne royal commission.

The exodus has seen 9000 advisers leave the industry since 2018, a 30 per cent decline, according to report by industry research body Rainmaker.

Rainmaker Information executive director of research and compliance Alex Dunnin said the financial adviser industry was experiencing “massive disruption”.

“The regulatory disruption that Australia’s financial advice sector is facing is due in large part to the huge push by government, regulators and other stakeholders to improve the quality of financial advice,” he said. The last year alone saw a near 10 per cent drop in Australian Financial Services Licensees, which fell to 1907 from 2125.