New equity release qualification will not solve advice issue, specialist warns

Bower Retirement Services chief corporate officer Andrea Rozario (pictured) said a new stand-alone equity release qualification may help to attract more advisers into the market but it will not automatically mean they do more business. Rozario and equity release referral firm Key Partnerships warned in August that one of the main risks in the market was ad hoc advice. The risk stems from the lack of effective sourcing systems for advisers, coupled with the complex nature of the products, they said. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) proposed to overhaul adviser equity release quali...