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Equity release workshops unveiled as market growth expected to continue

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  • 16/01/2019
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Equity release workshops unveiled as market growth expected to continue
Legal & General Home Finance and Canada Life Home Finance have individually announced a series of workshops to help train and support advisers taking the equity release qualification.

 

L&G Home Finance

L&G Home Finance’s one-day workshops are run by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) and will take place at the lender’s headquarters in Solihull in January, February and March.

The events are part of the lender’s strategy to further engage brokers in the market which it announced last year.

Speaking to Mortgage Solutions at the time, L&G Home Finance head of mortgage broker sales Marie Catch said: “We’ll be there to hand hold brokers through qualifications, support how they give advice in the market and getting leads to build their business.”

The workshop will cover topics including how to target appropriate customers, key equity release products and the alternatives available to potential clients.

At the end, candidates should be able to understand the principles of equity release and the types of schemes available, suitability and affordability of the different types of products, the risks to the consumer, and the application of suitable solutions according to the circumstances of the customer.

Catch added: “Retirement lending is a growth market in the UK and there are huge opportunities that we want to help advisers make the most of.

“In some instances, it can simply be helping intermediaries to take that first step into the market. Our partnership with the CII through these new workshops is just one part of our plan to open-up distribution and help the retirement lending sector to reach its full potential.

“We’re confident these sessions will give more advisers the support they want to start their journey into lifetime mortgages.”

 

Canada Life Home Finance

Canada Life Home Finance is running six workshops around the country in February at locations in London, Bristol, Southampton, Solihull, Manchester and Huddersfield.

The lender said they follow on similar sessions offered last year where more than 300 unqualified advisers attended.

The sessions are provided in collaboration with training and consulting firm Fortica and give advisers currently not qualified to offer equity release the training needed to pass the required exam.

The announcement comes ahead of the Equity Release Council’s publication of the 2018 lending figures for the equity release sector, which are expected to show more than £4bn was lent last year and a third record-breaking year in a row for the industry.

Canada Life Home Finance head of marketing and communications Alice Watson said: “The equity release sector is booming, and at Canada Life we have a key role to play in helping mortgage advisers meet this demand and support the market’s growth.

“As such, we’re organising another round of our in-demand workshops for 2019, supporting those who aren’t yet qualified to get the training they need to tap into the product’s growing popularity.

“We had a phenomenal response to last year’s sessions, with over 300 unqualified advisers attending and a second round of workshops being added in the summer to meet the demand we saw.”

It added that this series of exam workshops will be part of a larger range of events throughout the year.

 

Advisers expect growth

Expectations are that Equity Release Council figures due this month will show the market reaching the £4bn mark in 2018, up from £3.06bn in 2017.

In research with 100 independent financial advisers, Canada Life found 86% of advisers expect the value of the equity release market to increase further in 2019.

Two in five advisers expect the market to grow by £2bn alone in 2019, to top the £6bn mark by the end of this year, with 46% expecting more modest growth to be between £4.5bn and £6bn.

Just five per cent of advisers expect the size of the equity release market to decrease this year, while nine per cent expect it to stay about the same as in 2018.

 

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