Uncertainty means greater need for client conversations

Last week showed just how quickly events on the other side of the world can find their way into our industry, with swap rates reacting to the breakdown of the US-Iran ceasefire.

We don’t know how the situation will develop from here, but we do know the pattern: geopolitical uncertainty tends to filter through to lender pricing at home faster than people expect.

That makes now the ideal opportunity to be having conversations with clients whose deal is due to expire in the next six months, or anyone who’s been putting off securing a rate. There’s no guarantee rates will move in either direction, but sitting on the fence carries its own risk, and clients generally appreciate being told that plainly.

It hasn’t all been about volatility, though. Lenders continue to invest in their criteria rather than standing still, and that’s worth holding onto amid the noise. Even against a jumpy rate backdrop, the underlying trend of lenders broadening what they’ll consider, and how they assess it, hasn’t slowed down.

I was at the Lloyds strategy event last week, which felt timely given the group’s recent news around Halifax rebranding. There’s real ambition there for how the intermediary relationship develops next, and it’s encouraging to see that level of commitment.

I also had some productive conversations on the investor and lender side of the business last week, and look forward to seeing how this unfolds.

One area I think deserves more attention than it currently gets is later life lending. Lifetime and equity release products have long played a role in supporting clients’ retirement income, but increasingly we’re seeing them used differently: to pay down existing mortgage debt as clients move into retirement, rather than to supplement a pension.

That’s a meaningful shift in purpose, and it means our conversations with clients, and the support we get from lender propositions, need to keep pace.

Whatever happens next with swap rates, the things that matter most for clients haven’t changed: lenders willing to innovate, an intermediary market with real ambition, and brokers ready to guide people through the noise rather than let it dictate the outcome.