Speaking on a debate panel at the Later Life Lending Event (LLLE), Sinclair questioned if the regulator recognised why advisers did this. He said that mortgage advisers focused on certain areas of the market because they did not want to carry too much capital, have prohibitive professional indemnity insurance and wanted to be able to set commercially viable fees.
He added: “If you break that model and say everyone must do everything, you have to take the consequence of that.
“Or we accept the world we have today that says you can just do mortgages or equity release.”
Sinclair said the habit of restricting advice was a result of the culture of the sector and had made advisers “scared of our own shadows”.
“That’s the problem we have to unpick,” he added.
Sinclair also said to give holistic advice, advisers could partner with specialists and refer cases to them.
Reach a greater understanding
Tish Hanifan, co-founder of the Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA) said she agreed there was a place for specialisms but said later life planning was too interrelated to have silos.
She said: “Of course, there is the possibility to hand over to specialists but the consumer has come to the adviser and said ‘this is what I want to do’.
“[If] we only work in a silo, we will never be able to pick up the other options that might be available to them. On balance, I’d be in favour of wider, non-siloed activity.”
“The best way forward for later life lending is if it does become much more part of an integrated later life advice service,” she added.
She said members of SOLLA were required to take an equity release exam even if they did not have permissions to advise on it so they could broaden their knowledge.
Overall, Hanifan said advisers should “raise their game” and get all the Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice (CeMAP) qualifications if possible, in order to give a holistic service to clients and have a greater understanding of the market.
David Burrowes, chairman of the Equity Release Council (ERC) said there needed to be a “continued shift in attitude” to get advisers and their clients to look at their assets holistically.
He added: “We’ve just got to get better at this, there’s always a role for specialisms but we need to ensure that as a service that we provide a greater referral and understanding.”
