Adviser Opportunity Index maps Australian towns for adviser expansion

The Adviser Opportunity Index (AOI) is a new CoreData tool for advisers to establish which region might be the best to seek new business opportunities within across Australia.

The 2015 release examines 83 regions using the seven variables that apply to supply and demand for financial advice, however the report isn’t just focused on where the wealth in Australia lies (generally major cities), but wealth and demographic characteristics that exist within smaller economies. The tool allows advisers to identify new areas that may be crying out for specific types of advice, for example self-managed superannuation, insurance, or general advice. 

Western Australian towns are listed as five out of the top 10 Adviser Opportunities positions, while New South Wales comes in a slow second with only two listings. Victoria seems to be missing from this list altogether, along with the Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania. Queensland is listed once.

Mandurah, WA, is the best-faring opportunity town on the Top 10 list, being the second-largest town in Western Australia, just 70km from Perth. Mandurah has a relatively wealthy population, quite a few pre-retirees, and a low concentration of advisers, making it a favourable place to set up a new office. Perth’s North East and South West also rated highly for the same reasons.

Queensland in general was bumped out as the least useful place to set up shop or expand into, since it has a high proportion of advisers servicing the population or the additional problem of low average wealth.