The service will help unlock the £44 billion Equity Release market and deliver significant benefits to both intermediaries and providers alike.
- Intermediaries will be able to research, quote and buy Equity Release products and confidently offer advice in this complex area of financial planning.
- Product providers will have access to an ideal distribution channel through which they can cost-effectively market their products to The Exchange’s 18,500 intermediary users.
As part of its pre-launch programme, The Exchange surveyed over 500 IFAs to identify current attitudes towards the Equity Release market. 60% of IFAs questioned had not sold an Equity Release product within the last 12 months, however, 84% said they would now consider offering advice in this area.
The Equity Release Trading Platform will enable intermediaries to identify which products meet their client’s needs based on personal data, property details and financial criteria. The results will be displayed in a simple tabular format that shows provider name, amount raised, interest rate, total fees, brief product details and the provider’s Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP) status.
From this table intermediaries will be able to link directly to a detailed description for each product and for lifetime mortgages they will be able to link to a separate table that shows the amount owed for each year of the lifetime mortgage based on the product’s interest rate. Once a recommendation has been made intermediaries will be able to link from the results table to either The Exchange’s Company Quote service or the provider’s extranet to generate a real-time client specific quote and, where available, purchase the product online. In addition, instant client summary reports can be produced to support the advice process.
For intermediaries with a website built by The Exchange via its AdviserNet Web Builder service, a consumer friendly version of the Equity Release Trading Platform will be available to offer directly to their clients.
David Child, chief operating officer at The Exchange, comments:
“This is an exciting development for The Exchange and will deliver significant benefits to both Exweb subscribers and Equity Release providers. The growth in the Equity Release market has been phenomenal and our research shows a strong demand from the intermediary sector for an easy to use information service to support their sales process.”
