The Equity Release Awards 2024

Adviser categories

Best Financial Adviser – five or fewer advisers 
We are looking for you to recognise firms rather than individuals. Your nomination should be based on a combination of the company’s commitment to the best possible outcome for its customers, business performance and the consistent quality of its advice. The company will have demonstrated an exhaustive knowledge of the product spectrum and the concerns and needs of its client base. A commitment to diversity and inclusion for staff and/or customers should be demonstrated.

Best Financial Adviser – six to 19 advisers 
As above, your nomination should be based on a combination of the company’s commitment to the best possible outcome for its customers, business performance and the consistent quality of its advice. The company will have demonstrated an exhaustive knowledge of the product spectrum and the concerns and needs of its client base. A commitment to diversity and inclusion for staff and/or customers should be demonstrated.

Best Financial Adviser – 20+ advisers
As above, your nomination should be based on a combination of the company’s commitment to the best possible outcome for its customers, its business performance and the consistent quality of its advice. It will have demonstrated an exhaustive knowledge of the product spectrum and the concerns and needs of its client base. A commitment to diversity and inclusion for staff and/or customers should be demonstrated.

Best Individual Adviser
This category recognises an exceptional individual adviser for her or his achievements over the last 12 months. The individual can be a representative from any size of firm, including a sole trader. As above, your nomination should be based on a combination of the best possible outcome for customers, business performance, the consistent quality of its advice and the individual’s commitment to her or his profession.

Best Distribution firm for Adviser Support
This category recognises the distributor firm (To include, but not limited to, adviser firms, networks and clubs, conveyancers, surveyors, as well as other support services firms and consultancies in the distribution chain) that have demonstrated new thinking in advice firm support.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• Training courses and events;
• Compliance services;
• Customer contact strategies;
• Adviser business development;
• Technology innovation

The successful firm will have made a proven positive impact on its own business in the last 12 months, while delivering services that positively enhance the work of its distribution partners.

Other categories

Best Conveyancer
Nominees will provide expert, efficient and practical advice at each step of the process. Successful candidates will have risk and compliance at the heart of their propositions and demonstrate an innovative approach to challenges, while pushing for a consistently faultless service to clients.

Best Surveyor
Nominees will have demonstrated the delivery of a consistently high-quality offering, accurate reports as well as a quick and efficient service. Candidates will evidence digital enhancements to service and a willingness to engage with or lead industry development.

Best Business Development Manager (an individual from any firm – both telephony or face-to-face)
This category is open to individuals from all firms – provider, distributor or support services companies. The award will be given to the individual responsible for business development in a face-to-face or telephony capacity. This individual will always go the extra mile for their advisers. Someone who is always available, knows their business inside out and offers support and guidance to the distribution channels they serve. They will take ownership of the relationships, ensuring that they consistently achieve positive results for the intermediary and their business.

Provider categories

Best Overall Provider for Lifetime Mortgages
For this category, please make your assessment in terms of the combination of both the products and service levels provided in the last 12 months. We are looking for a firm which ensures the best customer outcome via the intermediary and consistently meets the needs of distribution partners with both the right blend of product(s) and a consistently high level of service. A commitment to diversity and inclusion for staff, distribution partners and/or customers should be demonstrated.

Best Provider for Adviser Support, Training and Development
The category deliberates over the highest examples of adviser support from a product provider. This includes, but is not limited to, training and development, compliance services, customer contact strategies and adviser business development. This also includes technology innovation that drives broker efficiency and the delivery of a first-class customer experience. The successful firm will have made a proven positive impact on its own business in the last 12 months, while delivering services that positively enhance the business of their distribution partners. A commitment to diversity and inclusion for staff, distribution partners and/or customers should be demonstrated.

Best Provider for Service
This category focuses on lender service standards and the efficiency of decision-making, underwriting cases, and application processing. Qualities under consideration include: clear up-front communication, consistency and certainty in decision making and standardisation of approach and requirements throughout the application process. The candidate has shown evidence of problem-solving in areas like delays, any application anomalies and also delivering an effective post-completion customer experience. A commitment to diversity and inclusion for staff, distribution partners and/or customers should be demonstrated.

Best Provider for Products
The best provider for products will demonstrate a product offering that considers an effective pricing, criteria, affordability, and accessibility mix which is reflective of adviser and customer demand. They may have challenged the parameters of product design and delivered new thinking on how products are structured, priced and delivered to the consumer via the intermediary. This provider is expanding the equity release market through product development. A commitment to diversity and inclusion for staff, distribution partners and/or customers should be demonstrated.

Best Underwriter
This award category is open to anyone in this discipline at all levels – director, executive or manager. The nominee will have delivered strong initiatives in the last year to improve the quality of business, overall performance and/or controls within the provider which demonstrates that this individual is exceptional. This candidate demonstrates initiatives which have made a clear, visible impact on the business.

The core principle behind the Equity Release Awards scheme is the transparency and robustness of the nominations process.

As such, we have two processes. One for the Provider categories and one for the Non-Provider categories.

Process for the provider categories

There is a two-stage process for the following categories:

• Best Overall Provider for Lifetime Mortgages
• Best Provider for Adviser support, Training & Development
• Best Provider for Service
• Best Provider for Products

Stage One
All provider categories will be nominated for by a panel of over 50 adviser firms. We will be asking them to submit their top five provider firms in each provider category. (We will not be accepting any self-nominations for the provider categories. Employees of providers will not be allowed to nominate their own business in any of the provider categories).

It is the top three from these combined submissions who will make up the shortlist in each of the provider categories, who will then go on to be assessed by the industry panel of judges.

Those businesses/individuals which make the shortlist in each category will be contacted and asked to submit a short testimonial based on the following criteria:

1. What are the key achievements your firm has delivered in the last 12 months? Please pay particular attention to the context of your category. Please also think about any positive contributions your business has made to the prosperity of the wider Equity Release market in the last 12 months beyond your own business performance. A commitment to Diversity & Inclusion for staff, distribution partners and/or customers should also be demonstrated
2. Please indicate your successful business performance over the last 12 months (Measured in transaction volumes and/or profit versus the previous 12 months) alongside any performance indicators relevant to your category-Such as increase in positive feedback, referrals, or net promoter scores (whatever is appropriate)
3. Tell us why you should win the award.

Stage Two
An industry panel of judges will then gather to discuss the shortlist and use both their market knowledge and these testimonials to determine the winners.

Process for the non-provider categories

There is a two-stage process for the following categories:

• Best Financial Adviser – 5 or fewer advisers
• Best Financial Adviser – 6-19 Advisers
• Best Financial Adviser – 20+ Advisers
• Best Individual Adviser
• Best Distribution firm for Adviser support
• Best Conveyancer
• Best Surveyor
• Best Business Development Manager (an individual from any firm – both telephony or face to face)
• Best Underwriter

Stage One
The first stage is for the industry to nominate the companies (and, where appropriate, the individuals) you think are worthy of recognition for their achievements over the last 12 months.

A shortlist is then drawn up in each category, based on the overall number of nominations with a weighting applied to the source of those nominations. More emphasis is placed on nominations received from outside of the nominated company. The number of nominations accepted from within a nominated company is capped at 10.

Those businesses/individuals which make the shortlist of three finalists in each category will be contacted and asked to submit a short testimonial based on the following criteria:

1. What are the key achievements your firm has delivered in the last 12 months? Please pay particular attention to the context of your category. Please also think about any positive contributions your business has made to the prosperity of the wider Equity Release market in the last 12 months beyond your own business performance. A commitment to Diversity & Inclusion for staff, business partners and/or customers should also be demonstrated
2. Please indicate your successful business performance over the last 12 months (Measured in transaction volumes and/or profit versus the previous 12 months) alongside any performance indicators relevant to your category-Such as increase in positive feedback, referrals, or net promoter scores (whatever is appropriate)
3. Tell us why you should win the award.

Stage Two
An industry panel of judges will then gather to discuss the finalists and use both their market knowledge and these testimonials to determine the winners.

Please note that the industry panel of judges are handpicked for their experience and knowledge of the market and are a representative sample of providers, distributors and supporting services who can give a reasoned and balanced view on each of the candidates on the shortlists.

Where there is a business conflict of interest with one of the companies on a shortlist, this judge is precluded from casting a vote in this category.

Please note that none of the judges are aware of the result of any category before the awards presentation dinner.