LATER LIFE PLANNING
OUR AIM IS TO ENCOURAGE ADVISERS , BROKERS AND , IN TURN , CONSUMERS , TO SEE EQUITY RELEASE AND LATER LIFE LENDING AS NOT A PRODUCT BUT A POTENTIAL SOLUTION WHERE PEOPLE CAN PREPARE , PLAN AND PROTECT IN THREE CRUCIAL AREAS THAT IMPACT THEIR LIVES : FAMILY , TAX AND WEALTH PLANNING , AND LIFESTYLE .
member , advance planning for inheritance or simply using housing equity to avoid accessing AUM after a volatile period for the markets . Equity release and wider later life lending is a potentially great solution for consumer needs .
How is the sector continuing to evolve and what should advisers keep on top of when it comes to emerging tech ? Technology support and enhancements in the market have really moved on recently , and we have seen increasing adoption of these systems and services by intermediaries . There has been a significant increase in the number of firms who are now using solutions such as electronic ID and verification ; customer portals via their CRM ; direct-to-lender application systems ; criteria and affordability research tools to handle increasing complexity in lender criteria and proposition ; online customer advocacy and rating systems . It really does feel as though 2020 / 21 has been a tipping point in terms of adoption . For me , the key thing for advisers to keep on top of is what is emerging and to simply give a new tech initiative a try – these tools are about enabling expert advisers to enhance their offering and make themselves more efficient to focus on what they do best : engaging with clients and giving good advice .
What positive trends are you currently seeing in the intermediary space ? In the mortgage sector , the most positive trends are the business volumes and record numbers being achieved by intermediaries , lenders and distributors . This is a significant demonstration of the positivity and robustness of our sector , and shows how we have bounced back from the huge dip during the initial lockdown . We are fortunate that within financial services we have been easily able to work from home and our sector has been buoyant for the majority of the pandemic , but the amount of hard work that has been done by lenders , intermediaries and distributors to achieve record numbers is a testament to the remarkably strong collaborative culture that exists within the mortgage industry .
You can find out more about Simply Later Life on the Member and Client websites . Just visit the ‘ Your Business ’ area of the site to see our new and improved later life toolkit .
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