#48 Michael Campbell | The Great Adviser Shortage & How Growth Advisers Are Building Firms Through Acquisition

In this episode of The Rate of Change, Murdoch Gatti sits down with Michael Campbell, Principal of McAlistair Capital, to discuss the structural changes reshaping the Australian financial advice profession.

If you are interested in the future of financial advice, the economics of advisory firms, and how growth advisers are building larger businesses through acquisition, then you will enjoy this conversation.

Over the past decade, adviser numbers have fallen dramatically as regulation, education requirements and compliance standards reshaped the industry. While the profession has become smaller, it has also become more professionalised — increasingly resembling other trusted professions such as law and medicine.

At the same time, a new group of growth advisers is emerging.

Rather than operating small lifestyle practices, these advisers are building scalable advisory firms through acquisitions, infrastructure and strategic capital. Campbell works directly with advisers navigating this transition, helping them source deals, structure transactions and grow their firms through mergers and acquisitions in the wealth management sector.

In this conversation Murdoch and Michael discuss:

• The dramatic decline in adviser numbers in Australia

• Why financial advice is becoming a scarcity profession

• The difference between lifestyle practices and growth advisory firms

• How financial advice businesses are valued

• Why scale changes valuation multiples

• How advisers can grow by acquiring other practices

• The mechanics of financing advisory firm acquisitions

• Why consolidation is likely to reshape the advice industry over the next decade

For advisers, investors and industry professionals, this episode offers a rare look inside the economics of financial advice businesses and the opportunities emerging as the industry evolves.