Mariner ramps up equity release push

Mariner Financial has moved to boost sales of its equity release product by entering a strategic deal with three dealer groups to offer the products to clients, and launching a consumer advertising campaign to start this Sunday.

Mariner Retirement Solutions executive director Scott Graham said the product has been in a pilot phase, but the company now considered it adequately developed to distribute more broadly.

Graham said Millennium 3 Financial Services, Australian Investment & Financial Planners, and Financial Partnership had agreed to allow their advisers to offer the equity release product to their clients where appropriate, and Mariner was also in discussions with other groups.

Millennium 3 executive director Ken Hanlon said his group recognised the equity release market as a growth area.

“We see it as an integral part of the overall financial planning process, being able to offer financial advice to clients in that area,” he said.

Hanlon said the Mariner product appealed to the group because it offered a flexible range of interest rate structures and draw down structures for clients.

Graham said the product is also portable, which means clients are able to sell their home and continue the loan on a new property if the new property meets the product’s requirements such as loan to value ratio.

Graham said the company had rigid compliance guidelines for advisers and brokers. He said advisers and brokers have to complete a training course and exam, and the product’s sale must be signed off by a licensed financial adviser, as well as requiring legal sign off to ensure the client has considered the product’s implications on their tax position, pensions and beneficiaries.

He said best practice also recommends clients discuss their decision with beneficiaries. However, it is left up to the client to decide whether this is appropriate for them.

The advertising campaign, which includes print and radio components, will begin on Sunday April 2.

Graham said the campaign seeks to increase consumer understanding of equity release products and inform them that ‘reverse mortgages’ and ‘equity release’ products are the same thing.