Financial advisers must provide mortgages to give clients a full professional financial planning service, according to veteran financial planner Bruce Sherlock.
Sherlock has created white-label online product eMortgage, which will grow when it switches financing from ING to a major bank's wholesale fund from August 1.
"We believe that a financial adviser is not a true professional unless he can offer a mortgage facility, because a client's biggest asset is their house," eMortgage and eFinance director Sherlock said.
"That's because a planner's not managing debt as well as the asset side," eFinance chief executive Gregory Uehling added.
Planners who advise on a person's mortgage open up a world of insurance, superannuation and investment cross-selling opportunities.
The eMortgage is a useful product for advisers to service corporate superannuation fund clients, Sherlock said.
The product is available through sister company eFinance, a residential and commercial mortgage broking service that offers loans from 75 institutions.
It has three delivery mechanisms. Through the wealth option, eMortgage is available direct to planners who are accredited and licensed to write mortgages.
With the value option, eFinance provides a full turn-key mortgage broking service for advisers.
The professional option involves a co-branded mortgage consultant working in an adviser's practice.
eFinance has provided $300 million in loans since it was established six years ago. It is used by 70 advisers and accountants.
