Garth Hu joined by Andrew Dunbar of APT Wealth Partners and Campbell Vidgen of Macquarie Private Wealth in top 3

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management has taken top honours again as financial adviser Garth Hu tops the expanded 2024 edition of The Top 150 Financial Advisers list.

It’s the top spot five years in a row for adviser Garth Hu of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management has scored again as financial adviser Garth Hu tops our expanded 2024 edition of Top 150 ­Financial Advisors list produced in conjunction with Barron’s investment publication of New York.

But the locally owned Shadforth Financial Group – a subsidiary of the listed Insignia (formerly IOOF) – has emerged as a key rival to the global brands that have dominated the list since it was launched in 2017.

Shadforth, with a hefty 25 spots on this year’s list, has become the dominant advice firm on The List.

“The Barron’s award is the ­Michelin star in our industry,” Shadforth Financial Group CEO Terry Dillon said.

“To be consistently represented is a huge honour.”

Other leading firms on the list are Koda Capital, Macquarie Private Bank and Perpetual Private.

Hu, in a typically modest response, said: “I’m honoured to be recognised in the leading spot for the fifth year in a row.”

Second on the list is Andrew Dunbar of APT Wealth Partners, and Campbell Vidgen of Macquarie Private Bank is third.

Garth Hu retains his first place rank.

Rounding out the top five are Matthew Cassidy of the Partners Wealth Group at number four while at number five list veteran Charlie Viola appears under his new brand Viola Private Wealth (having previously been with Pitcher Partners).

As our list (published in The Deal magazine) expands for the first time since 2021, when it had 100 entrants, the wider advice industry continues to struggle for new recruits. There are only 15,500 advisers in the local market, down from about twice that number less than a decade ago.

However, financial advice groups are reporting improved trading conditions, and improved profit margins, as the industry ­resets to a leaner model more ­focused on upmarket clients.

Morgan Stanley also has the highest-ranked woman adviser on the list, with Cathy Ding coming in at number 18. Women make up about 22 per cent of Australian financial advisers but only 13 per cent of this year’s list entrants are women.

With the list expanding by one third, the selection of advisers now more fully reflects the talent across the nation, with advisers operating far beyond the confines of the Sydney and Melbourne market making it onto the tables. Cairns-based Dave Heydon of Heydon Partners makes a welcome appearance on the list flying the flag for Far North Queensland.

More broadly, Western Australia and South Australia have collected 10 spots each on the ladder while three advisers – all from Shadforth in Hobart – represent Tasmania.

As the industry resets with a smaller number of advisers, some financial planners have also been culling their client lists to focus on more lucrative business opportunities.

Other advisers have made a similar strategic decision by concentrating exclusively on sophisticated (or wholesale) clients. A sophisticated client needs to have either $2.5m in net assets or an annual income of more than $250,000 for two years in a row.

There are also signs of life in the merger market after the LGT Crestone Group recently acquired CBA’s personal advice business, Commonwealth Private Advice. The Crestone group itself was acquired by LGT in 2021 – the group is owned by the Princely Family of Liechtenstein.

The Top 150 Financial Advisers list is released as the government appears to have hit a road­block in its efforts to get a bill through parliament that would have allowed big superannuation funds to expand their offer of ­financial advice in the retail ­market.

However, big super funds are fighting a reputation battle on several fronts at the worst possible time: A string of big funds led by Cbus and including ART, HESTA, and UniSuper have let down customers with poor management systems.

Thursday’s Money Puzzle podcast will feature list veteran Will Hamilton of Hamilton Wealth Partners who has featured in every list since it was launched in 2017.