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Equity release adviser numbers must double by 2020 – Bower

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  • 19/02/2015
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Equity release adviser numbers must double by 2020 – Bower
The UK needs to recruit an extra 800 qualified equity release specialists by 2020 to meet growing demand or convince qualified advisers to re-enter the sector, according to research.

Research from Bower Retirement Services showed equity release customer numbers are likely to more than double to 11,300 within five years, according to Bower forecasts, assuming the 800 equity release advisers are operating at fully capacity.

Geoff Charles, CEO of Bower Retirement Services, said: “Over the last year, equity release has moved into the limelight as a vital solution to help people fund their retirement.

“The challenge now is for the equity release sector to keep up with this expansion in demand,” he added.

Following a record-breaking 2014, Charles said its own advisers are already operating at maximum capacity, so the sector could be constrained by a lack of active qualified professionals if growth continues at the current rate.

In total, Bower forecasts that the number of equity release customers per year will rise to 42,100 by 2020, up from 21,300 in 2014, which it admitted could be a conservative estimate.

The research echoes findings from Bower’s latest Adviser Tracker, which reported in Q4 2014 that 70% of advisers expected the equity release market to continue to grow over the next six months – 10% more than in Q3 2014.

The latest market report from the Equity Release Council found that lending had exceeded £1bn in the first nine months of 2014, and predicted the year-end figure will exceed £1.2bn.

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