Equity ReleaseAug 22 2019

John Charcol partners up on equity release

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John Charcol partners up on equity release

Broker firm John Charcol has partnered with equity release specialist Key Partnerships to offer clients access to equity release advice.

As part of its later life lending strategy John Charcol will refer customers for whom equity release might be appropriate to Key while advisers at the firm will continue to provide advice on retirement interest-only mortgages and other types of later life lending.

Under the agreement, Key Partnerships will also refer customers who would benefit from a second charge mortgage to John Charcol — the latest in a string of announcements from the firm about its growth strategy.

In June, John Charcol announced it was looking to double the number of advisers in its self-employed broker network over the next couple of years after pairing with OwnMyNest in May to provide help to first-time buyers.

The equity release industry has boomed in recent years and recent figures from the Equity Release Council showed £1.85bn of housing wealth was released in the first half of 2019.

On top of this, figures released by Key Partnerships showed the number of advisers referring their clients for equity release had risen 285 per cent in the past two years and a poll by Canada Life Home Finance revealed the overwhelming majority of IFAs expected record lending in the equity release sector in 2019.

Luke Somerset, chief commercial officer at John Charcol, said: “We are delighted to announce this collaboration with Key Partnerships. This adds real value to our overall proposition and will help our customers source the best possible product when it comes to later life lending.  

“Older borrowers have a wider range of considerations than people who are just taking out their first mortgage and we are delighted to be able to provide our valued clients with access to equity release advice from Key.”

Jason Ruse, head of Key Partnerships, said interest in the later life market was growing rapidly and the firm was seeing an increased number of consumers trying to access information and advice on equity release.

He added: “This partnership is great news as it means that customers can approach a well-known brand for support with their later life lending needs – safe in the knowledge that John Charcol has found a trusted partner that can help them make the best choices around equity release for their individual circumstances.

“Likewise for our customers who would benefit from a second charge mortgage, they can rest assured they would be in safe hands with John Charcol.”

Kevin Dunn, director at Furnley House, said: “Trusted partnerships are a great way to offer a holistic service, so you can truly take ownership of your client's journey and goals. 

“Like many products in financial services, with equity release there are a number of risk factors whereby if you do not advise on them regularly can mean you are not giving the best advice.”

imogen.tew@ft.com

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