The Intermediary – August 2026 - Flipbook - Page 46
The mortgage
broker’s role
Stephanie Charman, chief executive at the
Association of Mortgage Intermediaries
P
or tax specialists. Their skill lies in
many families’ wealth, and
recognising when wider issues arise,
protected if circumstances change is
mortgage advisers are often
asking the right questions and being
where an adviser adds some of their
drawn into conversations
clear about where their expertise begins
greatest value. No single adviser can
that go beyond arranging
and ends.
offer truly holistic advice, and nor
the home loan. Gifted deposits, Joint
Inheritance Tax (IHT), trusts and
should clients expect them to. The best
Borrower Sole Proprietor (JBSP)
succession planning are specialist
outcomes come from professionals
arrangements and later life lending can
disciplines, and referring clients to the
operating as part of a wider advice
all bring family wealth into everyday
right specialist is a sign of an adviser’s
ecosystem: mortgage and protection
advice discussions, and the adviser is
professionalism rather than any
advisers, financial planners, solicitors
often the first financial professional a
reflection of their limitations.
and accountants each bringing their
client speaks to.
Well-intentioned comments on
own expertise, with the adviser often
tax or estate planning can carry real
acting as the trusted first point of
only set to grow as more people look
financial consequences and sit outside
contact who connects it all.
to housing wealth to fund retirement
both an adviser’s permissions and their
and support younger generations.
professional indemnity cover.
Demand for later life solutions is
The Great Wealth Transfer doesn't
require advisers to have every answer.
And this isn’t confined to later life:
Protection deserves a place in these
It needs them to recognise these
advisers are increasingly supporting
conversations, too, and could sit firmly
conversations, know where mortgage
clients throughout their lives as they
within the adviser’s remit. When
and protection advice fits within them
accumulate wealth, not just when they
parents gift deposits or support a
and work alongside other professionals
come to pass it on. That doesn’t mean
mortgage to help children buy property,
to deliver the right outcome for
advisers need to become inheritance
new financial dependencies are created.
each family.
That includes being clear about the limits of
what any one adviser can offer.
The tax implications of property transfers, for
example, must be understood before any action is
taken.
“When a family home represents a large
Phillips says the industry must move away
from the siloed approach that has previously
characterised advice.
“Property is increasingly being considered as
part of retirement and succession planning,” he
says. “Our responsibility is to ensure our clients
proportion of someone’s wealth, there may be a
understand the options available to them and
temptation to look at transferring it to the next
the mortgage implications, all while working
generation during their lifetime,” Futcher says.
alongside financial planners, solicitors and wealth
“However, families need to be very careful about
the IHT rules that apply. For example, simply
gifting a property while continuing to live in it will
specialists who can advise on the wider legal and
financial considerations.”
Hayton agrees that collaboration is becoming
not remove it from the estate due to the ‘gift with
essential. “As family circumstances evolve and
reservation of benefit’ rules, meaning it could still
regulation becomes more complex, the need for
be liable for IHT."
holistic financial advice will continue to grow.”
Many families are examining broader options,
from gifting surplus cash to later life lending.
A fine balance
He adds: “That's why collaboration between
equity release advisers, mortgage advisers, wealth
managers, solicitors and tax advisers is becoming
increasingly important. Building strong introducer
The challenge, according to Futcher, is balancing
networks and professional relationships will help
a desire to pass on wealth and mitigate IHT with
advisers deliver the joined-up support customers
the reality that people are living longer and may
need to achieve their financial goals."
need access to their assets to fund retirement or
potential care costs.
“There is rarely a single solution, which is
44
Making sure families remain
roperty sits at the heart of
While the bulk of the ‘Great Wealth Transfer’
may yet be still to come, in many corners of the
mortgage market it is already underway. Those
why seeking professional financial advice is so
brokers who have not started forging the right
important," he adds.
relationships would do well to start now.
The Intermediary | August 2026
