The 2026 Evolution of Advice Summit in Sydney last week featured a panel discussion on self-licensing.
While many advisers are turning to self-licensing for greater independence or control, there’s still one major hurdle that many advice businesses need to overcome. Many advice businesses avoid the self-licensing route because it feels like too much work, even if that doesn’t need to be the case.
Speaking at the Summit, Eugene Ardino, chief executive of Lifespan Financial Planning, said that additional accountability can, at times, interfere with one’s ability to deliver financial advice. “There’s a lot of time involved. So, it does come down to whether you actually want that in your life as opposed to outsourcing it and focusing on being a practitioner”, Ardino said. “At the end of the day, the buck stops with you, and not just for the advice. That doesn’t necessarily make it more challenging, but it’s just an additional layer you’ve got to think about.”
Ultimately, though, Ardino said he believes every category of advice businesses could be suited to self-licensing, with one caveat.
“I would say those that are more suited to it are those that want the independence and more ownership of every piece of the puzzle”, he said. However, he added that one probably shouldn’t get their own AFSL if they want to focus solely on providing advice. “I think you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think there’s an extra layer of responsibility and function that you have to be responsible for. And if you see yourself as an advice practitioner and you don’t want to get distracted from that, you probably shouldn’t have your own licence.”
