July 11, 2019

Latest Member News July 2018

Retirement Advantage enhances its Buy-to-Let product range

At Retirement Advantage, we’re dedicated to product innovation. We’ve recently enhanced our Over 55 Buy-to-Let Options, a product range which allows landlords over the age of 55 to release equity from their property tax free, leaving their entire portfolio intact.

We’ve reduced the monthly interest rate (MER) on our Over 55 Buy-to-Let Lifestyle product from 6.26% to 5.99% and we’ve reduced the monthly interest rate (MER) on our Over 55 Voluntary Select product from 6.45% to 6.18%.  We’ve also increased the LTVs across the range, for example the LTV for a 73-year-old has increased from 27% to 32%.

The reaction to these products since we launched them last year has been overwhelming. At a time when the Buy-to-Let market faces challenging conditions, and many older people find it difficult to access mainstream mortgages, these products offer older landlords a new and safe way to generate income. That may be to support day-to-day living expenses, fund a major expenditure, gift to family, or pay for care.

But our ethos is built on a desire to innovate and we are always looking for ways to improve our products even further. So we’ve listened to advisers and to customers and we’re confident these enhancements will make this unique product range an even more attractive proposition.

The equity landlords release from their portfolio properties is theirs to do what they like with, and they choose whether they wish to make any repayments. With the Over 55 Buy-to-Let Lifestyle product, there are no interest payments; instead, the interest rolls up and is added onto the mortgage every month.

The Over 55 Buy-to-Let Voluntary Select Mortgage allows landlords to pay back up to 10% of the initial loan amount each year, without being charged an early repayment charge. This means they can choose how much interest to pay, and to pay back some capital each year too.

Retirement Advantage are a member of the Equity Release Council. However, our Over 55 Buy-to-Let Mortgages do not meet all of the Councils product standards because the mortgage isn’t being secured against your main residence. Instead, money is being unlocked from your Buy-to-Let property. Therefore the right to remain in the property for life, or until you move into long term care, do not apply as these standards are designed to protect you only in your main residence. In addition, our Over 55 Buy-to-Let Mortgages do not include the right to move the product to a suitable alternative property.

The remaining product standards apply in full to this product range, including a fixed interest rate for the life of the loan, a No Negative Equity Guarantee, and an independent valuation.

Find out more about our Over 55 Buy-to-Let Options on our website: www.retirementadvantage.com/adviser

 

60Mins Structured CPD with Aviva’s e-modules

A new equity release ‘hub’ has been set up to help advisers benefit from the burgeoning lifetime mortgage market. Find out more.

Containing guides, exam support and four structured CPD-accredited video modules, the hub is designed to make it easy for advisers not yet qualified in equity release to learn more about it and consider advising clients on it.

In addition, it also caters for qualified equity release advisers, providing support to help them generate more leads and have better client conversations.

OneFamily strengthens intermediary sales team with new Strategic Account Manager appointment

OneFamily, has appointed Chris Brown as a Strategic Account Manager in its intermediary sales team.

Chris will be responsible for driving distribution partnerships and supporting business development, offering bespoke product advice to enable advisers to effectively sell OneFamily’s lifetime mortgages.

Chris joins OneFamily with over 25 years’ experience in the mortgage industry, including over seven years most recently with Mortgage Brain, where he was a National Account Manager. He has also held senior relationship roles at HBOS now Lloyds banking group, The Mortgage Business and the Halifax.

Commenting on the appointment, Jon Tweed, head of Intermediary Sales at OneFamily, said,“We have increased our lifetime mortgage range this year, enhancing our flexibility so all products now have the option for the interest to be paid off making our products more suitable to a wider audience.”

“To ensure advisers can be kept up to date it is vital we have a strong, knowledgeable team who can work with them, so I’m delighted to welcome Chris to our intermediary sales team. He has extensive sales experience in the mortgage market, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge and expertise.”

To find out more about OneFamily’s Lifetime Mortgages visit: www.onefamilyadviser.com/lifetime-mortgages/

Pure Retirement update

2018 continues to be a year of growth and development at Pure, with a team that now includes 24 extra members, all here to provide you with a first class service.

We’ve taken on a third BDM to boost our level of national-level coverage and support for advisers wanting to learn about both the Pure proposition and the wider equity release market. In addition, we’ve taken on an extra three relationship managers, based in our Leeds offices, to give further help to advisers and offer any required assistance.

We’ve grown so much that we are set to move offices in the next couple of months, taking the top two floors of the Paradigm office complex that headlines the ongoing expansion of the Thorpe Park development.

We’ve also committed to another two years’ sponsorship of the AIR Sourcing platform from the Later Life Academy, providing a wealth of resources for advisers, from calculators and marketing materials right the way through to sales and educational support, all available free of charge to users who register through Pure Retirement.

Pure’s event offering continues over the next couple of months via a series of summer webinars. These will feature a host of guest speakers including digital marketing advice for advisers from Elementary Digital and guidance on the legal aspects of equity release and Power of Attorney from Goldsmiths Williams Solicitors.

We’ll also be exhibiting at September’s Financial Services Expo in London, with details of our new service offering and an opportunity to enter into our free prize draw. A special thanks to all of our guest speakers at our recent summer roadshows this June; the positive feedback has been overwhelming and we’re pleased to announce an additional Autumn series, so keep an eye out for further updates.

For those who might have missed it, the latest edition of the Pure-sponsored Lifetime Market Insight magazine from The Premier Equity Release Club, full of the latest industry updates, is available here.

And lastly, but by no means least: a huge thanks to everyone who voted for us in the upcoming MoneyFacts ILP Awards, where we’re finalists for Best Equity Release Provider and Best Equity Release Service. A big thank you for all your ongoing support.

KR Group update

Over the last few months, KR Group which includes brands such as Key Retirement, more 2 life and Primetime Retirement has made a flurry of new appointments:

  • Lee Blackwell (who previously worked at Partnership as Head of PR) joined in March as Director of Public Relations and Public Affairs.  She will focus on building a more cohesive approach to these disciplines across the group.
  • Dave Johnson – formerly Group Director for Digital Engineering at the Co-op – joined in April as Chief Digital Officer and will focus on to building market-leading digital capabilities across the group.
  • more 2 life appointed its first Director of Funding and Product Development – Roland Steere – towards the end of April.  Having previously worked at Santander and Aon, Roland will help the lender continue to innovate and diversify in the equity release market
  • Ian English (Advice Delivery Director) joined Key Retirement in June bringing with him considerable experience in the UK mortgage market gained at Lloyds Banking Group and Santander.

As part of its commitment to helping the equity release industry grow, KR Group also acquired a stake in Answers in Retirement Group which includes brands such as AIR Sourcing, the Equity Release Club and the Later Life Academy.  This investment will provide additional working capital to facilitate the roll out of a series of enhancements and new services under all three brands.

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