Edward Payne was named best individual adviser at the Equity Release Awards at London’s Hilton Bankside at the end of January.
Judges said his commitment was evident and commented on the rounded nature of his submission and cited a raft of testimonials from customers who felt truly well-served with the service Ed offered. Hear what Ed had to say when we caught up with him.
How long have you been in the sector? I set up my own advice company up six years ago and got qualified to do lifetime mortgages, five years ago.
What attracted you to the industry? When I initially set up the business, joint borrower sole proprietor mortgages were very much the new thing and I was seeing a lot of clients in that sector. Inevitably, the subject of gifted deposit and gifted equity came up a lot and very often guarantors wanted to know about options to release equity from their homes. As a result, I felt I simply had to get qualified to offer lifetime mortgages to be able to give my customers all of the options they needed.
What did you do before you became an adviser? Prior to becoming an adviser I worked for a variety of lenders and insurers for around 25 years, getting up to Head of Sales level and running major national accounts for businesses, such as Halifax, Accord mortgages and Friends Life. Although I greatly enjoyed my time working on the provider side, I was always attracted to the idea of running my own business and having a range of options available to me. As a result, I set up Clifton mortgages.
Why did you join the Council? Actually, my network at the time I became qualified, enrolled all Advisers with lifetime mortgages permissions and we joined en masse; the first time a network and the council had collaborated in this way I believe.
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started? Every day needs to be 25 hours long.
What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to a new adviser? Embrace technology. The sector is changing all the time in terms of new products, features and criteria. There is a lot of paperwork to get through, and using the latest sourcing, criteria and CRM systems can help you to give better outcomes, work quicker, and remain compliant.
How do you think you differ from other advisers? I don’t think of myself as an equity release adviser. I am a mortgage advisor that can advise on equity release. I always start with a completely open mind as to what the client wants and make sure that they are aware of all finance options available to them. I also always fully assess client income and if there is an interest serviced option available to the client, I always give them details of this, along with showing them clearly the potential impact of rolled up interest. That said, I am a passionate advocate for equity release. For the right client it can be an excellent solution and the hard work of the council, along with competition means there have been huge advances in flexibility and customer choice in the last few years.
How did you feel when you won the award and how did you celebrate? To be honest, I was a little surprised. I was up against some really stiff competition in my category. Celebrations were a little muted as I had client meetings the next morning, but I did have a few drinks with industry colleagues at the awards.
What is the greatest challenge facing the industry and how to overcome it? I think the greatest challenges are twofold. Firstly, increased interest rates means that interest will compound more quickly and clients cannot release as much equity as they often need to. Secondly, there is heightened interest in the sector from the regulator and I am sure they will be watching closely to ensure that advisers are making clients aware of all options available to them. The advent of consumer duty regulations means there will be even greater scrutiny of our processes, administration and evidence re our recommendations and outcomes.
I also feel that there needs to be greater and more proactive liaison between the regulator and lenders when it comes to older clients. This is especially true of those that are coming to the end of an interest only mortgage with no means of repaying it. Very often, clients do not earn enough money to be able to take a RIO, particularly when it comes to the issue of assessing survivor pension income. Interest only and lending into retirement rules mean that lenders will not take on new clients on standard mortgages and their relatively young ages means that they cannot borrow enough through lifetime mortgages. This is set against a backdrop of lenders sending 10 or more increasingly threatening letters to older, vulnerable clients. I am not suggesting that we should create more later life interest only clients but for those that are already in this position, I think a great deal more latitude needs to be shown; particularly for clients who may have been mis-sold a mortgage and often serviced their interest payments well on a high SVR for many years.
What is the greatest opportunity facing the industry and how do we embrace it? I think it’s the sheer level of wealth tied up within property. We really are just scratching the surface. Attitudes towards traditional forms of equity release are changing over time. It’s clearly a generational thing. I believe 48% of the adult population are over 50? The needs of later life clients are as diverse as anybody else’s, as people live longer and seek to pass on property wealth to their children and grandchildren.
Tell us about your home life and what you do to relax. When I’m not working, I’ll normally be found on the golf course, or inevitably fixing something that’s broken on my boat. I’m married, my wife also works in the business and we have two grown-up children at university (turning 18 does not mean they are no longer a dependent child as I have learned to my cost) and a 13-year-old who keeps me and my wife young, as long as we’re able to crowbar him off the Xbox that is.
- The other winners of the Equity Release Awards 2024 were announced recently at a ceremony at Hilton Bankside. They were: Best Financial Adviser, 5 or fewer advisers category (Sponsored by Aviva) – Emerald Finance
- Best Financial Adviser, 6-19 advisers category (Sponsored by Just) – Viva Retirement Solutions
- Best Financial Adviser, 20+ advisers category – Bower Home Finance
- Best Individual Adviser category, (Sponsored by Responsible Life) – Edward Payne, Clifton Mortgages
- Best Distribution firm for Adviser Support category – Advise Wise
- Best Conveyancer – Adlington Law,
- Best Surveyor – Countrywide Surveying Services,
- Best Business Development Manager – Ian Gregory, Aviva
- Best Overall Provider for Lifetime Mortgages (Sponsored by Phoebus) Aviva
- Best Provider for Adviser Support, Training & Development – Pure Retirement
- Best Provider for Service (Sponsored by Equity Release Council) – Pure Retirement, Best Provider for Products – Legal & General Home Finance
- Best Underwriter – Patrick Leese, Standard Life Home Finance
- The views of contributors are not necessarily those of the Council
