Bluestone Group will focus on expanding its reverse mortgage operations following the downsizing of its normal mortgage offerings last month.
The firm will try to boost distribution of its flagship reverse mortgage product, EQUITYtap, by making it compulsory for mortgage brokers to become accredited before they explain to consumers the risks and rewards of reverse mortgages.
Under the initative all brokers must achieve Senior Australians Equity Release Association of Lenders [SEQUAL] accredited reverse mortgage consultant status from May.
“[Reverse mortgages] is one of the younger businesses within Bluestone and it remains part of our medium term growth strategy,” Bluestone chief executive Peter McGuinness told InvestorDaily.
“It must be in the best interest of consumers to have the introduction of the reverse mortgage handled by a subject matter expert.
“And the training program is deliberately designed to train the brokers in the specifics of a reverse mortgage.”
There is good growth potential in the mortgage sector as babyboomers are facing lower returns from superannuation funds and do not want to have their retirement income comprised in retirement, he said.
“All of those factors lead us to remain confident that this industry has significant growth left in it,” he said.
SEQUAL’s latest report showed that around 80 per cent of over 60s recognised the term reverse mortgage. But only 40 per cent of those people picked the correct definition.
Bluestone made redundancies in its Australian and New Zealand operations following deterioration in the wholesale funding market and the capital markets, it was reported on March 14.
