FID General Discussion, page-12

Just wanted to add some further comments on the advice industry

1. Advisers are still leaving the industry, with the 2026 education deadline looming, Adviser Ratings (could be another firm, you lose track of who reports what when you read all day) is reporting after a survey that 20% of advisers are still planning on leaving the industry. At ~15 to 16,000 advisers, this is a substantial decrease from the adviser headcount pre royal commission. This further supports the supply demand thesis. Whilst it is a double edged sword as an employer, with a strong business and presumably able to upskill current employees, I believe FID will have a net benefit from the supply demand of advice.

2. Average cost of ongoing advice has increased to approximately $3,500 a year for wealth advice. I believe this is up almost 40% as announced in the QAR. With financial planning typically being a loss leader for FID, I expect this to rapidly change.

3. The QAR is promising for the industry, with some significant changes to advice, including reducing the compliance burden. I won't comment too much on this as it still needs to go through legislation, however I think it will be net positive for the industry. Even having super funds able to give advice, will help free time from 'low value' clients that you cannot reasonably charge for.

4. M&A will start to rapidly increase in the next 2 to 3 years with the 2026 deadline. I expect those advisers who seriously
want to exit will be moving on shortly and selling the book. I am not sure what FID process is, but many advisers will have a 12 month warm handover period. To me this indicates that M&A (for good books) will peak before 2025 (12 months before 2026 deadline) and there could be a flurry of 'scraps' after this time as some advisers will be forced to exit.