I do think most of the listed financial advisory practices are not the best quality but the industry has improved from what I can see with a mass clean out over the last few years. The good ones tend to stay private - most of those don't have legacy issues. They were never conflicted with inhouse product manfacturing.

Centrelink, Aged Care requirements and constantly changing super/pension rules and you see where an advisor adds value. The value is not picking this investment over that investment it is the other stuff.

That said, I think a good bear market is what sees client numbers spike as a lot of mum and dad investors realise they have no idea what they're doing. For sure there are a lot of switched on, smart people that have the time and inclination to stay up to date but overall, its few in numbers and when you get to 70/80 most want to focus on living life and will outsource. It creates issues as most financial advice practice have an old client base and you have to replace clients but with an ageing population the pool is growing whilst at the same time adviser numbers have shrunk due to the clean out.

@Mujo , I was in management in a major dealer group before I went to the "dark side" as a financial adviser. While the financial adviser practices were, in the main, very profitable, the same could not be said for the Dealer Group. In my 8 years of management, the Dealer made a profit once...it was only that they also owned a funds management business that was very profitable and that was what sustained the business.

One fun fact about "a good bear market" that I observed in financial planning management....the inverse relationship between client complaints and the direction of the markets.

When the ASX is chugging along in positive territory, client complaints are rare, but when the inevitable market shakeout happens, batten down the hatches!

I think that makes sense, a dealer group/ licensee shouldn't generate excess profit IMHO as a non-revenue/value generating entity - it's a quirk of there being an AFSL that that happens. Accounting, like a Kelly Partners has that all as at one entity. Probably be a trend to a vertically integrated, independent financial licensee is what I'm highlighting - they won't be separate. You do need to keep advisors on board but that's the same with accountants/lawyers/doctors etc and why they aren't the highest quality investments. A key asset can walk out the door.

Yep! a big part of another benefit of a good financial advisor is to educate and not just take credit for good returns but flag during the good times that the market can have large drawdowns. A PT for your finances. Should help slow the complaints - but no one likes losing money.