Congratulations to our adviser Martin Wight on passing his exam on Equity Release Mortgages. At ethicalfutures we are keen to improve the standard and range of our advice and so we are committed to ‘continuing professional development’ to make sure we keep up to pace with current market developments.

With the increase of property values and the squeeze on retirement pensions, one of the growth areas in financial advice of recent years has been ‘Equity Release’. This covers a range of products but essentially relates to a mortgage or similar arrangement which allows you to release some of the capital value of your home, to spend as you like, whilst deferring repayment of the loan capital (and possibly the interest as well) until sale of your home. It’s a complicated area of advice and not one to take lightly but it does have an important role to play in advising elderly clients who are property rich but cash poor or possibly those who are keen to look at an alternative estate planning option.

Quite rightly, there is now increasing pressure from regulators to ensure that advisers have adequate knowledge of this subject. One of the key qualifications in this area is the Equity Release qualification offered by the Chartered Insurance Institute. Having now completed and passed this exam, Martin is now licensed to advise on the important subject.