What mortgage advisers want to promote their profession

Mortgage brokers and advisers would like to see higher qualifications and charters to boost their profession and give it parity of esteem.

According to mortgage and insurance specialists such as Jiten Varsani, independent mortgage and protection planner, the sure-fire way to promote their profession would be to have "Chartered level six mortgage advice qualifications".

He said: "I suspect that's just me, though!"

But Martin Stewart, founder of London Money, agreed. He said: "I certainly agree with higher qualifications", although he added that the bar "can’t be too high to get over initially".

He also quipped that the reason why they are brokers and not IFAs is "because we didn’t have the Latin for the judging". 

Qualifications definitely help in building professionalism.Jiten Varsani, independent mortgage broker

Sebastian Reimann, mortgage, protection and equity release specialist in Surbiton, said it would make sense for the profession to be "gradually lifted" in terms of qualifications. 

Some, such as Jane King, adviser at Ash Ridge Financial Services, pointed out that there is an advanced paper - R07 - but this was only the equivalent of level four; they would want the possibility of higher qualifications and charters to put them on more of an equal footing with financial planners and advisers.

Not all agreed that qualifications and charters were the main agenda item for achieving professionalism, however.

Andy Rayner said: "Qualifications aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on if you have no empathy with the client. Yes they’re important, but they’re not the panacea."

Varsani replied: "I agree - it won't fix the problem on its own. But [qualifications] definitely help in building professionalism. The minimum for an IFA is Level 4 with some choosing to move up to Level 6."

Reimann added: "The issue is that the current [examination] framework does not equip people to understand and explain what is ultimately one of the biggest financial decisions people make in their lives. That’s why we keep tripping up over legacy issues."

Have your say

Do you think mortgage advisers need higher professional qualifications? Is there a lack of parity of esteem between mortgage advisers and financial planners - and what can bridge that divide? Email us at: simoney.kyriakou@ft.com, damian.fantato@ft.com or ftadviser.newsdesk@ft.com