Retirement sourcing tool announces system upgrade

AIR Sourcing says its system features all products from all retirement lending providers with users able to access its unique ‘Research Filters’ to show all product variations.

New features include a ‘Tools and Calculators’ section which will include a ‘Borrowing Forecast’ to compare products over time, show the impact of further drawdowns or payments off the loan and produce illustrated charts for clients to help advisers justify their recommendations.

Its ‘Knowledge Base’ will serve as a source of information not only on equity release but the complete range of later life products and advice areas; it will also cover access to State Benefit software, webinars, and further reading to improve knowledge and the quality of advice.

Other features include a marketing hub, an online suitability report creator, and an online client solicitor instruction.

AIR Sourcing was launched by Answers in Retirement Ltd in May this year. Since launch the system has grown to over 1,400 registered users conducting over 1,200 sourcing sessions each month.

Ray McCarthy, Marketing & Distribution Director at Answers in Retirement Ltd, commented: “With the first phase launch of AIR Sourcing we wanted to provide advisers with a far more comprehensive research and sourcing system than they’ve had access to before. It was not our aim to provide a ‘me too’ offering – essentially a rate comparison tool that would add little value to the sector - instead we wanted to cover off the widest range of products available and to offer a system which could be used by advisers either on a basic level to identify the lowest-cost product for a set amount but also offer advisers all the tools they require to research products diligently based on a range of product features that their clients need.

“It now means we can move onto the second phase of AIR Sourcing development where we introduce another layer of additional expertise plus a number of new tools which will help users attract more clients, provide the best advice and win more clients.

"New features such as our ‘Tools and Calculators’, ‘Knowledge Base’ and ‘Marketing Hub’ have been clearly designed to support the adviser’s interaction with the client, to help provide more supporting information for the recommendation, and to help them develop client relationships in the first place. We are incredibly pleased with how our first few months of launch have progressed and by embarking on this next phase, we can continue to tailor our offering to meet the growing and more sophisticated needs of advisers and their clients.”