The Intermediary – June 2025 - Flipbook - Page 19
I N P RO F I L E
make the difference. I’ve heard so many stories
about customers who went it alone and made
a less than ideal decision. Whenever an adviser
stepped in, the outcome was far more positive.”
To this end, while tech – and particularly
artificial intelligence (AI) – has a key role to play,
it is unlikely to replace the adviser. Indeed, this
would be a “massive shame” to Beardmore: “Has
AI got a heart? Absolutely not, and in this industry
that’s what’s needed.”
She adds: “If you combine transformation,
technology and people together, you get the
ideal combination. But on its own, how does AI
drive a market forward? How does it spot new
opportunities and chances to innovate?”
Nevertheless, Beardmore is still clear that the
tech journey is an important one to get right:
“We’re passionate supporters of tech, if done in
the right way.”
In the early days, with the club’s unique selling
point (USP) of payment on advance, Beardmore
points to the use of yellow stickers and carbon
paper forms as the height of advancement. Now,
Ignite and Club Hub provide brokers with fingertip
access to affordability, criteria, product and
property resources. L&G, Beardmore says, is more
than willing to “keep up with the pace of change.”
This pace was, of course, accelerated by
Covid-19, which pushed the market further down
the path to automated valuation models (AVMs),
electronic ID verification, and in a more general
sense, the drive for decisions to happen earlier in
the homebuying journey.
Beardmore says: “The earlier a decision can
be made, the better. Advisers and customers
want that certainty. I don’t think we’re there yet.
Everybody thought that the golden bullet would
be API connectivity, but adoption is a challenge.
“There’s a nervousness in the industry around
the ‘robots taking over’, but you can see that things
are beginning to evolve. People are beginning to
adapt their plans. Advice is human, but technology
can get rid of the grind.”
Part of the club’s role is helping understand how
to bring in new innovation as well as improve the
use of data, always with the goal being for the
customer to receive the best service and advice.
“We give brokers access to research tools,
and we expect lenders to keep them up to date,”
Beardmore explains. “That ultimately drives better
consumer outcomes, so we play a crucial part.”
While the correct implementation of AI is at the
forefront of the tech conversation, Beardmore
boils this down further, suggesting that a key
question is how this sector uses data to “drive the
market forward.”
“We know that people’s lifestyles are changing,
there are more self-employed people, more people
facing financial difficulties,” she says. “How do you
use data to create new opportunities? Then, from
a surveying perspective, how do you use data to
really support decisioning as early as possible in
the journey?”
The next 30
Beardmore says more than anything, the coming
decades will be shaped by the next generation
of customers. Indeed, with Gen Z not far off the
first-time buyer mark, the future might come along
sooner than many realise.
Firms will have to consider how future
borrowers want to interact and conduct the
mortgage journey, while still ensuring they benefit
from that all-important human advice.
Beardmore also points to changing attitudes
to debt in retirement, which will shape the
later life market and its relationship with more
‘mainstream’ residential lending as people take on
longer terms.
Meanwhile, the next cohort will likely spark
more of a focus on green and sustainable products
and buildings, which begs the question: is the
market ready to offer innovative ideas that are
attractive to Gen Z?
“From a lender perspective, Gen Z are different,”
Beardmore says. “They are big advocates of a
‘side hustle’ and being both employed and selfemployed. The customer that we serve now is very
different from when I bought my first house. We
absolutely should know what they want.
“We’re moving into a new era and we have to
make sure the new customer is being catered to,
while not forgetting that people live longer and
work longer. The makeup of the population should
drive what we do, the products that are offered,
and how advice is given.”
This might sound like far too much change and
nuance for advisers to keep track of, particularly
while they must also provide an empathic helping
hand to borrowers, keep on top of regulation and
compliance, and manage the daily work of running
a business.
This, Beardmore says, is where clubs can make
all the difference, providing education resources,
technological services like L&G’s Referral Pro,
the ability to “earn while you learn” about new
markets and product sets, access to third-parties
and CRMs, and on top of it all, thought leadership
from different perspectives.
For the immediate future, the club is developing
the learning and development piece in particular,
continuing to underpin the value of advice , and
fundamentally working to get people into homes.
Beardmore concludes: “It’s not just a payment
route, it’s wider support. We’ve got to evolve, and
the pace of change is only going to get quicker.” ●
June 2025 | The Intermediary
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