2026 Licensee Summit

The opening session will set the scene for two days of constructive debate, examining the macro forces reshaping the licensee landscape. It will interrogate the big-picture commercial, regulatory, and demographic trends bearing down on licensees and will explore how these pressures impact the industry's journey toward a sustainable model of 300 clients per adviser, and the broader ambition to grow the profession to 20,000 advisers.

Includes table discussion

This session will explore the interconnected roles of AFCA and the CSLR in fostering a fair and accountable financial advice ecosystem. The session will also consider how the profession can constructively engage with each body to strengthen accountability frameworks, resolve disputes more efficiently, and ensure the CSLR remains a meaningful safety net without placing undue burden on compliant practitioners.

Artificial intelligence is moving from experiment to implementation across the advice profession. This session examines how licensees are deploying AI tools, the regulatory and compliance obligations that come with AI adoption, and where licensees can add meaningful capacity to the advice process through intelligent automation.

Technology, including AI, is reshaping how advice practices operate, how advice is delivered and where capacity can be unlocked across the advice process, and whether less is more when it comes to technology vendors.

Cybersecurity has rapidly emerged as one of the most critical operational risks facing licensees today. This session will explore practical frameworks for building cyber resilience across advice businesses, examine the regulatory obligations licensees are required to meet, and unpack how those obligations flow through to the advice practices operating within their networks.

Includes table discussion

This interview will feature candid insights from one of the financial services industry’s leading business minds. It will reflect on the past, present and future of wealth management across financial advice, licensing, managed accounts, research and investments, while also drawing out key lessons on leadership, management and mentorship.

CoreData Research founder Andrew Inwood presents annual research on the leading licensee business models and financial adviser satisfaction, alongside the latest on the adjacent managed accounts, asset consulting and platform markets.

This session will follow on from the CoreData presentation and explore the continuing evolution of licensee models and will examine how these firms are driving new opportunities for advice practices through M&A activity, technology, and expanded service offerings, shaping the future of financial advice in Australia.

The structural pressures reshaping wealth management are not unique to Australia — but how Australian licensees respond to them will define the next decade. Drawing on BlackRock's vantage point across global wealth markets, this session examines the operational and cultural shifts redefining how advice businesses are built, scaled, and governed.

From the evolution of digital advice infrastructure to the reimagining of due diligence as technology raises expectations around consistency transparency, this session will interrogate what operational maturity for licensees and advice firms can look like at scale.

This session will examine whether large licensees possess the necessary capabilities to effectively oversee their advisers, and whether ASIC has the capacity to conduct sufficient due diligence across the thousands of self-licensed practices operating throughout the country. The discussion will explore how all parts of the value chain can better coordinate and self-regulate to proactively identify emerging issues with facts and evidence.

Includes table discussion

The Retirement Income Covenant and the expanding advice obligations of super funds are reshaping how retirement is served in Australia. This session examines how licensees can position their adviser networks at the forefront of retirement income solutions and what the competitive and regulatory landscape means for the advice profession's role in retirement.

The panel will examine the various pathways consumers can take toward retirement, exploring ways to expand the influence and reach of financial advice while strengthening its public standing and community impact. Discussion will encompass key areas including general advice, insurance, superannuation, and behavioural finance, before concluding with an in-depth look at the central debates and considerations surrounding licensee business models and their long-term prosperity.

Includes table discussion