10 February, 2022 | Gordon Reid

In the ever-changing world of regulated advice, being qualified to advise on both mortgages and investments can help you and your business progress. Gordon Reid offers three reasons why financial planners should do CeMAP – and why mortgage brokers might look at financial advice.

1. Your clients need mortgage advice
 If you’re a financial adviser, you may be familiar with the problem. You’re talking to a client and the conversation starts veering towards their mortgage.

You can’t give them mortgage advice, even though you’re a financial adviser and a mortgage is a huge part of your client’s financial life. All you can say is, “I suggest you consult your mortgage adviser”.

If that sounds familiar it could be time for you to get mortgage-qualified with CeMAP – or the Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice to give it its full name.

“They do complement each other,” says Louis Goacher, who has taken and passed both CeMAP and the Diploma in Financial Advice (DipFA).

“I’m fortunate to have clients where I’m in and out of each topic. So I’m doing pensions and investments as well as mortgages and protection.”

It makes sense.

One of the first things we think about as advisers – and managing our personal finance – is tackling and reducing debt. A mortgage, for most people, will be the biggest debt of their lives.

2. You can get CeMAP-qualified in just a few months
If you’re a fully qualified financial adviser you don’t need to do the whole of CeMAP so you can qualify more quickly as a mortgage adviser.

Because you’ll have done Unit 1 of DipFA – Financial Services Regulation and Ethics (FSRE) – you’ll be exempt from the first module of CeMAP, or CeMAP 1. You’ve already covered the subject matter. 

That leaves CeMAP 2 and 3 which, with a reasonable amount of study, you can likely cover in four to six months.

CeMAP 2 is all about mortgages, so it may be new ground. CeMAP 3 is about the practical application of that mortgage knowledge – giving you the background and testing your ability to apply it in practice.

If you’ve already been working as an adviser, this will be well within your capability.

3. You need CeMAP to study CeRER
House prices are widely expected to continue rising this year. But interest rates are still low so there’s little point in keeping too much in savings accounts. Clients may opt instead to use their money for home improvements or to increase their liquid capital.

Customers who’ve paid their mortgages off may wish to release equity to cover their increased living costs, or to help their adult children get on the property ladder. As inflation continues to rise, we’re likely to see increased demand for equity release products.

But equity release is complex, which is why – to advise on it – you need an additional qualification on top of CeMAP. You need to take the Certificate in Regulated Equity Release (CeRER), which you could complete in six months.

Why might a mortgage adviser do DipFA?
If you’re running your own business as a mortgage broker you’re likely to see many opportunities to talk to people about other aspects of their finances. That’s a sign you should study DipFA.

DipFA will undoubtedly help you expand your business and progress your career. But even if you want to stay on the mortgage side of things, DipFA will give you a better holistic understanding of financial services products and processes.

That will help you expand your business and broaden your knowledge. And it will make you a more effective mortgage adviser too.

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