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23 January 2018

JLM Mortgage Services, the mortgage and protection network, has today (23rd January 2018) launched a new equity release advisory firm, Equity Release Mortgage Advice (ERMA).JLM Mortgage Services, the mortgage and protection network, has today (23rd January 2018) launched a new equity release advisory firm, Equity Release Mortgage Advice (ERMA).

The firm, a subsidiary and appointed representative (AR) of JLM, currently has five specialist advisers who can all offer equity release, standard mortgage and later life lending advice, ensuring clients are presented with a whole of market approach covering products from all lenders and providers active in this sector.

The launch, following a pilot period for the firm, comes with a new website – equityreleasemortgageadvice.org – allowing its advisers to offer their expertise right across the UK. Other advisers within the JLM network are also able to refer and introduce cases to ERMA where their clients will receive specialist advice.

ERMA has committed to a fixed-fee structure rather than one based on a percentage of the loan. Advisers will only charge a fee of £995 regardless of the loan amount and clients will pay this fee at completion rather than earlier in the process as other equity release advisers tend to do.
JLM and ERMA believe there is a growing demand for equity release/later life products however argue it is vitally important advisers in this market are not just advising on equity release and nothing else. 

With a growing number of traditional mortgage product options available to those in later life, JLM and ERMA believe all advisers active in this space should have the authorisations, experience and skill-sets to cover all relevant sectors. Any new advisers that join the firm will be required to advise on equity release, standard mortgages, and later life loans.

Since its launch and pilot period, ERMA says its clients are looking to release equity or secure later life loans for a number of reasons, including:

• To provide children/grandchildren with a ‘living inheritance’, often gifting money to help purchase first homes or move into larger family homes.

• To help mitigate against any future IHT liabilities.

• To provide a solution at the end of an interest-only mortgage term, where the current lender is unwilling to extend this and the clients’ income falls short of the affordability assessment.

ERMA is a member of the Equity Release Council and is committed to its standards.
JLM Mortgage Services is an authorised network offering both experienced and new AR firms access to a range of mortgage lenders and protection providers, with a full range of services and complete compliance coverage. JLM recently became the first network to launch a robo mortgage advice proposition, Virtual Adviser, which has been designed to provide JLM advisers and firms with a unique tool to allow them to engage with customers. 

Rory Joseph, Director of JLM Mortgage Services, commented:
“You only need look at the growing lending figures in equity release to see this is a product area increasingly in demand as more and more potential clients look to use their home as an asset. There has been some significant growth in this part of the market, especially with greater numbers of later life lending products, and we wanted to ensure we had a specialist advisory practice that was able to cover all product bases, not just equity release. This is important because an equity release product is not always the most suitable, however if you’re a customer that has gone to an adviser that only offers equity release then this is the only option you’re going to be provided with. In our view, this is wrong and with ERMA we believe our clients are going to get the right product for their needs and circumstances every single time.”

Sebastian Murphy, Head of Mortgage Finance at JLM Mortgage Services, commented:
“With this firm, we also wanted to make sure we took a thoroughly ethical approach to equity release and later life lending advice. Other adviser firms might try to defend a percentage-based fee approach but there is absolutely no reason why a fixed-fee proposition shouldn’t be the norm, as some of the percentage fees charged are, to our mind, unjustifiable. The work involved does not warrant potentially many thousands of pounds in fees and all our advisers are committed to this fee structure to provide clients with the best advice without charging the earth for it. We begin with five advisers under the ERMA umbrella but we believe the growing demand, and increased interest from advisers themselves, will mean we’ll develop our offering and adviser numbers very quickly. If there are any advisers interested in talking to us about how we can support them in this sector, please do get in contact.”