Key Group is evolving its holistic later life lending advice service, enabling its advisers to research and recommend a wider range of products directly and reducing friction in the customer journey.
The holistic advice process begins with understanding a customer's circumstances, objectives, priorities, and future needs. Key Group’s advisers first consider whether borrowing is appropriate at all, having explored alternatives such as using other assets or income, downsizing, changing plans and/or having facilitated access to specialist support on other areas of financial planning. Only where later life borrowing is suitable are options considered including lifetime mortgages, retirement interest-only (RIOs) and residential mortgages.
As part of the new changes, advisers across Key Equity Release and The Equity Release Experts (TERE) will now deliver advice and product recommendations encompassing all later life mortgage options without the need for referrals to other teams.
Furthermore, consideration of downsizing and referrals into trusted partners covering areas such as debt support, pensions advice, guidance on care funding options and issues with short leases remain an important part of the proposition.
Training for advisers ahead of the launch has included enhancements to the fact find approach as well as knowledge refreshers and training on different mortgage types alongside meetings with lenders and one-to-one training on sourcing systems.
Key is partnering with Mortgage Brain to assist with researching mortgage products not already covered by its own later life lending platform Air.
The launch builds on the ongoing focus on holistic advice at Key which already meant consideration of all options and customers being referred where appropriate to its own internal mortgage desk or partner Mortgage Advice Bureau for mainstream mortgages.
The launch also aligns with the growing regulatory focus on holistic advice highlighted within the FCA's Later Life Mortgages Study.
Will Hale, CEO of Key Equity Release, said: “For a number of years we have adopted a holistic approach across all our advice channels ensuring that, irrespective of the scope of our advice proposition, customers are made aware of all available options and are referred to specialist teams where appropriate.
“This further evolution to holistic advice within a single advice appointment is in our view now essential in the later life lending market. It improves the customer journey, strengthens our advice, and supports better outcomes.
“Product innovation and the broad range of profiles among over-55 customers looking to access their property wealth, or manage mortgage debt, in later life means that product-siloed advice is a major risk to delivering consistently good customer outcomes.
“Given the focus of the FCA on the safe growth of the later life lending market, this is a major opportunity to further enhance our advice service for customers and our introducer partners by making the journey smoother while empowering our advisers with the knowledge and tools to help more customers themselves rather than referring them.
“The process we have introduced demonstrates that all-encompassing sourcing platforms covering every product option available should not be a prerequisite for firms to evolve to more holistic advice models.
“Indeed, it remains the case that comparing lifetime mortgages with other later life lending products is like comparing apples with pears and there remains a major role for specialist sourcing platforms to support different parts of the product landscape. More comprehensive fact finding, sophisticated triage approaches and integrated technology driven processes are key elements to delivering holistic advice efficiently and effectively.
“Customers don't think in product silos. They simply want the solution that best meets their needs delivered through a journey free of unnecessary friction. Our role is to ensure every suitable option is considered before a recommendation is made but ultimately to support many more customers access their property wealth to achieve their objectives in later life. "
