Home / Industry / Remuneration and regulation: The biggest advice and investment stories of 2023

Adviser remuneration was a clear thematic this year, with the top two stories focusing on salary levels. Practice management and regulation, once again, played prominent roles in the news cycle, as did the profile of one very interesting young adviser.

It should come as no surprise that in an era of soaring inflation, the adviser community found content relating to their own remuneration levels suddenly most interesting. Our two most read stories on The Inside Adviser in 2023 were both linked to pay levels, reflecting not only an interest in salary but concern over the cost to serve and the importance of keeping key staff happy.

While salary levels were front of mind for advisers, the stories that resonated this year were spread across a broader palette. As ever, big changes to regulation remained a key concern, as did the personal side of choosing financial advice as a career and stories about the people who’ve dedicated their life to the profession.

2024 will be absolutely pivotal for the advice industry. After reaching their lowest ebb, adviser personnel numbers should be set to rebound with a host of tailwinds headed by the Quality of Advice Review recommendations and soaring demand.

The future shape of the advice industry, however, and how it resets itself in this crucial period, remain to be seen.

For now, enjoy a recap of the five most widely read stories for the year behind us.

1. Advisers offered ‘$50K bump in salary’ as talent poachers circle

It’s not just money being thrown at financial advisers, with title changes, more responsibility and “other added benefits” also on offer according to financial services recruitment teams.

2. So how much revenue does the average adviser pull in, anyway?

While one listed group reported $236K revenue per adviser, another said its advisers brought in $600K each. But the extraordinary delta is more a function of business models than adviser performance, however.

3. Meet Josh Lee, an advice director at 27 with a full book of clients and millions of online fans

By age 24 he had more clients than he could handle. On his 26th birthday Josh was appointed as a director at Link Wealth Group. “I hit the ground running,” he says. “I enjoyed doing it and just engulfed myself in it.”

4. The unseen toll on financial advisers

Despite the emotional expenditure required to hold someone’s hand in the darkest hours of their life, whilst retaining a high degree of professional acumen, it is both a responsibility and an honour. But it can leave a scar, writes Drew Meredith.

5. SOAs, safe harbour steps gone as government takes staged approach to advice reform

Financial services minister Stephen Jones has accepted 14 of Michelle Levy’s 22 recommendations to increase advice access, with super funds set to play an expanded role and advisers benefitting from a drastic cut to red tape. Banks and insurers, however, have had their advice reform hopes dashed – for now.