This new alliance enables MAB to enter a specialist and growing market with a leading proposition both to advisers and customers.
Key Group is a leading integrated later life lending business covering product manufacturing, advice and intermediary services including product sourcing tools, compliance and training.
Formed over 21 years ago, Key Group has helped the over-55s release more than £5 billion of equity from their properties by taking a holistic view of their personal circumstances to achieve the best outcomes for them. Key Group will provide its market leading infrastructure and regulatory umbrella to MAB Later Life.
MAB Later Life comprises a panel of four lenders including more2Life (Key Group’s lifetime mortgage lender). All lenders are members of the Equity Release Council (“ERC”) and all products meet the ERC’s standards.
The first phase of the strategic alliance, which is already underway, involved the distribution of later life mortgage products through a small pilot group of existing specialist MAB advisers, all working under the MAB Later Life brand. MAB is now extending this new opportunity to firms currently outside of the Group that are looking for a best in class proposition to capitalise on their specialism in this sector.
Commenting on the new launch, Ben Thompson, MAB’s Deputy CEO, said:
“Broadening our addressable market to include products for the over 55s is an important part of our strategy, and a logical extension to our proposition. This exclusive strategic alliance provides MAB brokers with a greater range of products to enable them to compete at the highest level. Specialist advice is a key differentiator for intermediaries, and Later Life represents a clear opportunity for them to service new customers and extend their relationships with existing ones.  
“Those over the age of 55 today typically have large amounts of potentially untapped wealth that if released could transform their retirement. Providing the right advice to customers has always been a cornerstone of MAB, and we are delighted to partner with Key Group on this launch to provide customers with help, reassurance, and advice on an important lifetime decision.”
Will Hale, CEO of Key – the UK’s largest equity release adviser – and executive board sponsor of the MAB Later Life project at Key Group;
“Both MAB and Key Group are well known and award winning names in the UK advice arena – committed to putting customers first.  We share a belief in providing personalised tailored support to help customers as they make long-term choices around if and how they want to use their housing equity to improve their finances in later life.
“With later life lending moving up the agenda, it made sense for us to partner with a business with MAB’s scale and track record.  It will allow us to bring more advisers into the sector by providing them with access to the market leading systems, training, compliance and monitoring support that we have developed over 21-years of award winning advice provision in this specialist area.
“We are therefore delighted to launch MAB later life which will see advisers supported with a range of services which includes access to a panel of market leading lenders.  With more over-55s than ever before considering how they use their housing equity in retirement, this sector is set to go from strength to strength and we look forward to working closely with MAB to support these customers.”
This strategic alliance broadens MAB’s addressable market in an important growth segment which is highly intermediated. Customers need comprehensive financial advice more than ever as they age and advisers want to provide customers with a range of considerations and choices. This includes options to release equity in order to supplement often inadequate pension provision or provide inter-generational assistance to family members.
It is estimated that the total value of secured and unsecured debt for over-55s will rise, from about £211 billion in 2020 to £300 billion in 2030⁽¹⁾. It is also estimated that the housing wealth of the over-55s is worth £2.5 trillion⁽²⁾.



¹ Centre for Economics and Business Research and more2life, 2020
² Swiss Re Term and Health Watch 2017