Falling adviser numbers make later life specialism more important than ever – Harris

It will have struck a chord with many in the industry, not least advisers themselves, who might well have faced their own challenges in terms of continuing to be active and how they discern where their career path may take them next.

Recruitment challenges and adviser retirements are clearly at play, but for me, the big takeaway is simple: there are fewer advisers at a time when customers need more support, not less.

Advised support in later life

That matters because the advice gap doesn’t just exist at the entry point for first-time buyers. It’s just as acute, if not more so, in later life. Older borrowers face complex choices around whether to stay on a mortgage, remortgage, look at a retirement interest-only (RIO) option, downsize, or consider a lifetime mortgage.

These are not decisions that can be taken without advice.

At More2life, we recently responded to the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) Discussion Paper on the mortgage market. A key point we made is the future of later life lending doesn’t hinge on creating endless new products. Of course, innovation will continue to happen, new products will stem from that, but even if that doesn’t happen, there are already plenty of good solutions available.

In our view, the real challenge will be ensuring people have access to advice that looks across the board at all their options, not just a narrow slice of the market.

That’s where the adviser community comes in. And of course, falling adviser numbers should concern all of us, but it also presents a challenge/opportunity to those who are active.

Because if there are fewer advisers overall, those who remain have an opportunity – and perhaps even a responsibility – to differentiate themselves by becoming true specialists in areas where demand is only going to grow. It’s my belief that later life lending should be close to the top of that list.

However, for advisers, specialism in this space shouldn’t really be about bolting on a product or two. It’s about positioning yourself as a trusted guide for clients in their 50s, 60s, and beyond.

That means being able to talk confidently about the full range of choices, from a simple mainstream product transfer to a lifetime mortgage. It also means understanding how these decisions connect to the wider financial picture – affordability in retirement, inheritance planning, supporting family members, whatever the aim is.

Sector should aim for a holistic approach

It is also starting to feel like the regulator shares this view – at least in the later life lending space.

In the Discussion Paper, it felt like it wanted to address the advice silos that exist today – which, let’s be honest, results in large numbers of customers not seeing the full range of solutions that are available to them.

Now, we have an opportunity – and it’s one the regulator should run with – where it can help support a broadening of advice knowledge and qualifications, to provide all clients with a genuinely holistic mortgage advice service.

There’s also a career point here. The Mortgage Solutions story noted that adviser retirements are contributing to the fall in numbers. Later life lending could be part of the solution on both sides of the career spectrum.

For experienced advisers, it’s a natural progression – using years of mortgage knowledge to help clients make some of the most important financial decisions of their lives. For younger advisers, it offers a clear growth area where they can build expertise and stand out from the crowd.

And advisers don’t have to go it alone. There is a wealth of support already in place. At More2life, we’ve invested heavily in education, CPD, and training. We also back this up with tools like ProView, which helps advisers manage cases more efficiently and deliver a smoother client journey. The infrastructure is there; it’s about advisers deciding to grasp the opportunity.

The truth is, if adviser numbers do continue to dip – and we should all work towards this not being the case – firms will need to make choices about where to focus. Specialising in later life lending allows them to deliver a strong element of future-proofing a business by meeting a growing customer need, and potentially meeting a soon-to-be-changed regulatory environment. That’s a powerful combination.

Yes, the adviser numbers in the Mortgage Solutions story are not ideal. But they also shine a light on where the opportunity lies. Advisers who step into later life lending now can not only help close the advice gap but also set themselves apart in a market where differentiation is going to matter more than ever.

The market will continue to benefit from product innovation, but what it might truly need are advisers with the confidence and knowledge to help clients make the most of the solutions already out there. And with fewer advisers in play, those who develop that expertise will be valued all the more by their clients and by the wider market.