In the UK, the over-55 age cohort holds more than £3.5trn in housing wealth, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
The market continues to be in their favour with house prices remaining healthy. It is expected that customers will increasingly look to their property wealth and solutions such as lifetime mortgages to support their financial needs.
We also know the attitudes of younger homeowners are more favourable to products like equity release.
Therefore, it is also key to ensure our leadership reflects those changes.
For L&G, Lorna Shah, who also leads our annuities business, will help oversee a future where property is considered alongside pensions as part of retirement planning.
Technology
The introduction of new technology is another key driver of change for the later-life lending space.
Although the later-life ecosystem is more niche and hasn’t evolved as quickly as in some areas, we are learning from shared best practice across our brands and building on developments.
At Legal & General, we have been considering ways to use data and insight to help brokers in as many ways as possible.
For example, we have CRM technology in place already, and from an internal process management perspective, we are considering ways we can link this with AI, to enhance our capabilities and improve customer experience (eg, improving queue management).
There is a huge opportunity in what the use of AI can bring, and as lenders we should be nimble and look at how this could best be implemented to benefit customers and our adviser partners.
When it comes to clients, however, it is important that later-life lenders acknowledge there might be more vulnerabilities, and some of them may not be so tech-savvy.
Being aware of the needs of this demographic is key, and they should be met by offering multi-channel solutions, from more advanced technology to the classic phone-call approach.
Working collaboratively is key for evolution
The introduction of the consumer duty has already had an impact, but it will continue to support the move towards more integrated financial advice and the development of new products that meet higher standards.
Collaboration across the industry, coupled with the fact that equity release is a fully advised product, will strengthen the consumer trust in product over time.
Consumer duty changes not only target the simplification of products, but also offer the opportunity for people to access more holistic mortgage and financial advice.
This will become more of the norm, and customers will expect to interact with advisers who can offer them a range of options to suit their individual needs, further pushing later-life lending into the mainstream.
