The mass exodus of professionals from Australia's financial advice sector seems to be reshaping how retail investors interact with the market. Since 2018, the national adviser register has almost halved, plummeting from around 28,000 active professionals down to just over 15,000 today.
According to forecasts from Padua Wealth Data, this contraction is far from over, with numbers expected to drift even lower by 2030.
This shrinking talent pool has triggered a severe accessibility crisis. As supply dwindles, the cost of accessing a professional has skyrocketed. In fact, median advice fees surged 18% last year to reach $4,668—representing a massive 67% increase over a five-year period.
The result is a rapidly widening advice gap. Last year, a mere 10.4% of Australians received professional financial advice. Meanwhile, Investment Trends estimates that 15.9 million Australians are currently sitting with unmet advice needs.
As traditional guidance becomes a luxury service, everyday retail investors are turning to artificial intelligence to fill the void. New data from Nasdaq-listed broker Webull illustrates exactly how this tech adoption is playing out on the ground.
Since launching its Vega AI trading assistant in January 2026, Webull has seen immediate uptake from the exact cohort that has been priced out of professional advice. Currently, 8% of the platform's Australian client base actively uses the tool.
Active users jumped 20% in May and a further 9% in June, while total user queries rose 41% month-on-month in May.
This technology is being embraced by the generations most impacted by the adviser shortage. More than half (52%) of Vega AI users are under 35, and nearly 80% are under 46.
This mirrors broader national trends where younger demographics are increasingly comfortable turning to AI for budgeting and financial guidance.
While critics often fear that AI will encourage reckless retail trading, the Webull data suggests the opposite. Traders are using the technology for foundational research rather than speculative tips.
The most common request is a simple summary of the user's personal watchlist. This is followed by requests for company explainers on major tech stocks like Nvidia, Tesla, and Microsoft, alongside S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 ETFs.
Following the adoption of AI, trading behaviour appears more measured. While clients placed around a third (33%) more trade orders after first using Vega AI, their average trade size decreased. Average trade amount per user shifted from US$18,989 to US$17,049 following the first use of Vega AI.
Webull Australia CEO Rob Talevski said users are spreading smaller amounts across more positions rather than concentrating their capital.
“One of the more interesting findings is what changes once someone starts using Vega AI: trading volume increases, while trade value decreases slightly,” he said.
“Quick, on-demand research lowers the effort of checking an idea, so it looks like traders are using the technology to broaden their research set and put smaller amounts across a wider range of positions, rather than backing one or two big calls. They are trading more often, and more deliberately.”
While these tools are democratising access to market research, industry leaders caution that they are not a complete substitute for personal advice.
Just as the mortgage industry warns that AI tools require human oversight to verify data and prevent fraud, wealth professionals stress that an AI assistant cannot structure a holistic retirement plan or navigate complex tax strategies.
However, with the adviser register continuing to shrink, free AI research platforms are proving to be a highly effective middle ground. For the 15.9 million Australians currently locked out of the advice market, technology is rapidly becoming the most viable way to make informed financial decisions.
