John Moriarty, CEO Spry Finance talks about the firm, innovation, and predictions for the sector.
Tell us about your firm and what makes it different from others in your sector. Spry Finance was re-launched in Ireland in 2021 to serve the later life lending needs of the growing population of Irish over-60s. Since then, we’ve helped some 2,000 customers realise the value in their home for a range of different needs – paying down existing debt, supplementing pensions, home improvements, living inheritances – and we’ve brought innovation to the market in the form of new products.
As for what makes us different – well, currently we are the only provider of Lifetime Loans in the Irish market and therefore we are very conscious that we are setting the standards that others will have to emulate!
When, how and why was Spry Finance founded? Spry Finance was founded as the retail arm of Seniors Money, which has been trading successfully in Ireland since 2006, and now has over €400m in assets under management. Spry is the customer-facing part of the business, responsible for ensuring that our customers enjoy high levels of service and have all the information and time that they need to make the right decision for them while Seniors Money arranges and manages the lifetime loan.
Three years on, the name Seniors Money has taken a back seat – Spry Finance is well-established and the name reflects the fact that the Irish population is ageing, there are more retirees and older people, and most of these people – of course – do not see themselves as old.
Why did Spry Finance join the Council? As the sole provider of equity release products in the Irish market, we’re very well aware of both the opportunity for growth and the importance of ensuring good outcomes for every customer. Membership of the Council allows us to access learnings and experience that will be helpful to us as we continue to develop and implement our strategies for product development, for marketing and communication and for industry-leading customer service and management.
It has enabled us to connect with Lifetime loan providers in the UK market and with other affiliate members and to exchange learnings. We’re genuinely delighted to be a part of it.
How might your services benefit other members and/or their clients? We are very happy to share insights and learnings from the Irish market with other members. As the sole provider of Lifetime Loans in the Irish market our focus has been on building awareness of our products while at the same time educating customers, media and stakeholders about them and their benefits as later life financial tools.
We provide choice for older customers when it comes to financial planning for later life and, in common with many other countries with ageing populations it is important for us to understand the customer and their needs. Our customers are central to all our product development and positioning and we back them to ensure that they can lead a greater life, in later life.
What are the greatest opportunities and challenges facing your firm at the moment? Ireland – like many other countries – is moving towards a future where an increasing number of older people will not be able to maintain their living standards when they retire. We understand the needs and concerns of older people and the challenges they face. We’re determined to provide choice for older homeowners with a broader range of financial products to help them access the wealth they’ve built up in their home and ensure they can have a comfortable retirement.
There’s no doubt that there needs to be a complete re-think about attitudes towards wealth and inheritance and how people plan and fund retirement – including the role of all financial tools, including lifetime loans. Our challenge will be to encourage that re-think and, where necessary, shift the public perception of our products which is still influenced by legacy issues and a history that isn’t necessarily what we’d want it to be.
What are the differences (or similarities) between the UK and Irish markets? The differences are stark. In the UK there are 10 providers and more than 450 different equity release and later life loan products available, while in Ireland we are the sole provider and offer three products.
Customer demand in Ireland is growing however, and we are under no illusions around how this growth will attract new entrants to the market, such as life insurance companies, which will drive further product innovation and will increase the size of the market. The great thing, as far as we are concerned, is that we have set the standards of service and care that others will have to emulate.
Where do you see the firm in five years? We expect the equity release and later life lending sector in Ireland will continue to grow and be worth more than €200m annually within the next three years, and we’re confident in continued growth beyond that.
We have a strong new product pipeline so we will be a position to offer a much wider later life financial planning offering to customers and we are constantly looking at new ways of doing things to ensure complete customer satisfaction.
Beyond that, and into the future, we see ourselves as Champions of Later Life and we’ll be doing more things to encourage older people to live a greater life, in later life. We will also – because how could we not – be looking at developing our business in new and maybe unexpected directions!
Is there anything else you want to tell us? We will be attending the Equity Release Summit in May and we are looking forward to attending the talks, but also to meeting in person with UK providers. The benefit of membership to us is the opportunity provided to meet with people and to understand the challenges and learnings from the UK and how they relate to a new market.
If you are attending the summit do let us know in advance if you would like to meet up.
- Views of contributors are not necessarily shared by the Council.
