Predictions for 2012: financial advice

There will be more Authorised Financial Advisers- the number of AFAs, currently under 2000, will increase this year according to Institute of Financial Advisers president Nigel Tate.

Originally there were forecast to be about 5000 AFAs but many have ended up in Qualifying Financial Entities (QFEs) instead, Tate said.

"If you look around at the number of advisers giving advice on investment products, it's about 5000."

However, he predicted a number of advisers currently operating under QFEs would end up striking out on their own as AFAs.