Who Are the Emerging Networks? Sample
Newcomers, and the seven that matter
5 FINDINGS- Twenty-nine networks crossed the five-AR line after July 2023. Between them they held 37 ARs then and 680 by July 2026, growth of 1,738%. They are the reason the network population grew at all: the networks that already existed in July 2023 shrank by 122 ARs in aggregate.
- Seven of them account for 82% of that growth. The seven now sized Mid-market or Major went from 9 ARs between them to 537. The other 22 stayed Boutique, growing from 28 to 143.
- Most of the emerging headcount now sits in networks of real scale. By July 2026, 415 of the 680 ARs are in networks now in the Major tier and 122 in Mid-market; 143 remain in Boutique networks.
- The growth came late and fast. The cohort took two years to pass 200 ARs, then more than doubled in the final twelve months, with the steepest climb in the last quarter to July 2026.
- Ten networks are the engine room. The seven emerging leaders (+528) and the three top incumbent growers (+670) delivered 1,198 of the 1,605 ARs gained since July 2023 — three in every four. The 47 shrinking or exiting networks lost 1,047 over the same period.
Four steps to the engine room
4 NOTES- Three ARs recruited for every one kept. Gains of 1,605 across 64 growing networks were 65% offset by 1,047 losses across 47 shrinking or exiting ones. Net: +558 across 99 networks.
- The July 2023 cohort shrank. Networks that were already at five or more ARs in July 2023 finished 122 ARs smaller in aggregate.
- Three incumbents took 72% of incumbent growth. +670 of the +925 gained by the 35 incumbents that grew at all; the other 32 averaged about eight each.
- Emerging networks pushed the market back into growth, and seven did most of the pushing. +680 from 29 newcomers, 82% of it from seven. Together with the three incumbent growers, ten networks delivered three quarters of all gains.
Source: ASIC AFS Licensee and Authorised Representative registers (data.gov.au). Each AR is assigned once, to its latest-start current appointment, so nobody is counted at two networks. A "network" is a licensee with five or more matched ARs — a reporting convention that keeps the population to about 100 networks holding roughly 97% of all ARs, not a regulatory category. Incumbent means five or more ARs in July 2023; emerging means reaching that threshold since; shrink and exit includes incumbents that have since fallen below five. Figure 1 is monthly from July 2023 to July 2026 on a fixed cohort: current five-plus networks that were below five ARs in July 2023. Size tiers are each network's current tier, applied retrospectively. Figure 2 compares the July 2023 and July 2026 snapshots. One caveat on the growth figures: re-papering (ARs moved onto a new licence rather than newly recruited) is counted, so not all emerging growth is organic. It is rare enough not to change the story. Networks are deliberately unnamed.
Want to know which seven?
The full service names the emerging networks and tracks every network's headcount month by month: who has crossed the five-AR line and when, who is growing, who is shrinking, and the recruitment and retention figures behind each move. Aggregate views for market work, named detail where you have a legitimate interest. Refreshed with every ASIC register release.