Andrew Teeman was named Best Individual Later Life Adviser recently at the British Later Life Lending Awards at London’s Hilton Bankside.
Judges said that Andrew “demonstrated an abundance of enthusiasm and passion and a comprehensive knowledge of holistic financial planning.’ Hear what Andrew had to say about winning his award.
How long have you been in the sector?
I’ve worked in financial services my whole working life; starting as a mortgage advisor in 2004 at 21 years old. I trained as a financial planner and worked in Asia for 7 years. When I returned to London in 2015, I set up a financial planning business and focused on Wealth Planning and Equity Release.
What attracted you to the industry?
I’ve always been interested in money and property. I think those two worlds collided perfectly for me when I found my path/career in financial services. I’ve worked for myself the majority of my life; autonomy and freedom have always been good for me.
What did you do before you became an adviser?
I’ve always been in financial services, but whilst finishing my education in my late teens, I was a cocktail barman.
Why did you join the Council?
I’ve been a member since around 2021. This is when I really started to focus on Equity Release as the main area of advice that I wanted to provide and put my focus on.
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
I think the quest for knowledge will always remain important to me, but the size of the opportunity is something I didn’t know then. I think the opportunity now is much bigger than people realise. It’s a huge opportunity, but one that must continue to evolve in order to suit the ever changing needs of clients.
What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to a new adviser?
Focus on advice and not products. Anyone can sell a product, but if you ask more questions, you get to know your clients better. Understand what makes them happy and try to help them understand why they are making the decision to speak to you.
How do you think you differ from other advisers?
Being a qualified financial advisor has really helped me to focus on higher value clients and understand the complexities of taboo areas like inheritance tax planning and estate planning. I think having knowledge of more areas like pensions, protection and investments as well as tax, has really made me stand out from other advisers.
How did you feel when you won the award and how did you celebrate?
It was great to win the award, but I think the success is being nominated in the first place. I’m sure all those nominated deserved to win and should consider themselves winners for being sat in the room. I had a few drinks, but left around midnight as I had a 7am breakfast meeting the next day and a full day of client calls and meetings.
What is the greatest challenge facing the industry and how to overcome it?
I think we need to continue to educate clients and intermediaries about what products are available, and why they need to be part of the full financial planning process. I think financial planning should be introduced at school, and this would give so many more people an opportunity to plan better and take control of their goals from a monetary perspective. We need more innovation around products as well and the changing needs of our clients.
What is the greatest opportunity facing the industry and how do we embrace it?
Thankfully, we are all living longer, but this comes with challenges as to how we support this longevity. We need to better understand the needs of clients as they go through later life and how the products available can help to serve these needs as part of a blended approach to retirement / later life planning. We need to be involved with what clients actually want and not what we want to sell them.
Tell us about your home life and what you do to relax.
I have three young children. An 8 year old (Layla) and twins (Felix & Harper). They keep me busy and I also enjoy playing golf, padel and tennis. I try to get away skiing once a year and love the sunshine so take holidays abroad as much as possible. My partner Elizabeth also runs her own Wealth Management business, so we spend a lot of time talking about the industry and what we help clients with.
Is there anything else you want to tell us?
We should all be proud to work in the area of later life advice, in the main, advisors do a good job. I would like to see more qualifications in this area, so people fully understand and provide solutions in areas like generational planning and paying for care fees etc.
The other winners of the British Later Life Lending Awards 2025 were also announced at a ceremony. They were:
Later Life Retirement Planning
Best Later Life Adviser – 6 to 19 advisers sponsored by Just
Equity Release Associates
Best Later Life Adviser – 20+ advisers sponsored by Royal London Equity Release
Equity Release Supermarket
Best Individual Later Life Adviser sponsored by Pure Retirement
Andrew Teeman, Mortgage Advice Bureau
Best Distributor for Adviser Support sponsored by Mortgage Solutions
Advise Wise
Best Surveyor sponsored by Diversity and Inclusivity Finance Forum
Countrywide Surveying Services
Best Legal firm sponsored by Specialist Lending Solutions
Equilaw
Best Newcomer sponsored by Equity Release Council
Megan Williams, Royal London Equity Release
Best Business Development Manager
John Macdonald, Aviva
Best Underwriter sponsored by Adlington Law
Matthew Evans, LiveMore Mortgages
Best Provider for Adviser Support, Training and Development sponsored by Later Life Retirement Planning
Aviva
Best Retirement Interest-Only or Retirement Mortgage Provider sponsored by Mortgage Advice Bureau
LiveMore Mortgages
Best Lifetime Mortgage Provider sponsored by Phoebus
More2life
Outstanding Contribution
Gemma Pendlebury, Konex
The views of contributors are not necessarily those of the Council.
