Household Capital adds UK home equity market expertise to team

Household Capital, an independent, specialist retirement funding provider has announced it has expanded its team with the addition of key expertise in retirement funding customer operations.

Jay Sewell has joined Household Capital from UK-based Age Partnership, a leading provider of home equity funding. Jay held the role of Head of Retirement Funding for eight years, during which time he oversaw significant business growth, with Age Partnership taking a 28 percent share of the UK’s £3 billion per annum market. Jay played a key role in helping the UK equity release market achieve six years of double-digit growth as the UK’s fastest-growing credit sector.

In his newly created role, Jay will lead Household Capital’s customer operations to support distribution and work closely with the technology, credit and customer service teams to deliver the best customer experience and help the business achieve its operational and strategic objectives.

Commenting on his appointment, Jay said, “When I first met with Household Capital, I felt a real and genuine connection to the people within the business, the business itself and its vision.”

“I am genuinely excited to be part of such an innovative and forward-thinking business that is at the forefront of the retirement market, stands with Australians and delivers improved retirement funding.”

The UK equity release market is significantly more developed than its Australian equivalent. In 2019, nearly £4 billion of housing equity was accessed by older homeowners. Earlier this year, Legal & General, one of the largest providers of equity release products in the UK, took an equity stake in Household Capital, citing Australia as a market with lots of potential.

Josh Funder, Household Capital’s CEO, commented, “Jay brings demonstrable experience in building a client service capability designed to delight clients. Australian retirees have saved $1 trillion in home equity.”

“With superannuation and investment portfolios decimated, and dividends and term deposits at all-time lows, Australian retirees need help to fund their retirement.”

“Household Capital’s longstanding mission is to help Australians Live Well At Home™ and deliver home equity as a core part of Australian retirement funding.”

“Jay comes to Household Capital having been a leader in building a 600-strong business and his team was awarded the ‘Number one net promoter’ score across UK financial services companies; we look forward to learning from his insights and working with Jay to deliver quality retirement funding solutions to our customers as the business grows.”