The growth of licensee businesses is rapidly becoming less dependent on the simple metric of how many advisers or practices they can attract to their networks, and more dependent on a complex interplay of factors that define the growth prospects of individual practices.

CoreData Research founder and global CEO Andrew Inwood told the Professional Planner Licensee Summit in June that licensees which recognise the support and services needed by the practices with the greatest growth potential will prosper.

A growing recognition the sustainability of a licensee is linked to the growth potential of advice practices, not to the number of advisers per se, is one of the reasons more licensees are seeking to participate in the advice margin by acquiring equity stakes in advice businesses or are moving to variable fees linked to the growth of the business.

Inwood said issues such as revenue payments and compliance support remain high on the list of the services all advice practices need, but an indicator of likely future growth is emerging in the form of technology adoption.