Jonathan Barrett, CEO & co-founder of Comentis, speaks to The Intermediary about their win a the Later Life Lending Awards 2022.
Congratulations on winning the Later Life Innovation award at the inaugural Later Life Lending Awards, how important is getting this recognition to you?
As a relatively new business, with a new solution in the market, knowing we are hitting the mark amongst our client base is incredible.
Even after extensive testing and trials, it’s great to know our solution is helping the advisers on a day-to-day basis and helping them identify and support vulnerable people.
It’s therefore less about recognition and more about knowing we are supporting the later life lending industry.
What do you think sets your business apart from others in the field?
By combining clinical, tech and industry expertise we created a unique product able to meet a growing regulatory and societal need.
It’s this combination of skills and individuals that sets us apart from any other solutions.
How important is it to recognise achievement in the sector?
Awards should be about celebrating success and less about recognition.
Pretty much everyone in this industry is working hard to do the best they can and celebrating these successes is very important.
Looking ahead how do you see the next 12 months playing out for the later life market?
The next 12 months are likely to be challenging with pressures coming from all sides; availability of products, high inflation, cost of living crisis (unfortunately the list goes on).
This is clearly going to have an impact on the market, not least from a vulnerability perspective.
We are going to see more clients in vulnerable circumstances and the extent of these vulnerabilities are likely to be more severe.
What advice would you give to someone looking to join the market?
Go for it, but do it for the right reasons. It’s a growing and respectable market and could always do with passionate people who want to support those who want to make the most of their retirement.
How do you rate your chances of defending your win next year?
The thing with innovation…. is it’s innovative and new solutions can pop up at any time.
Personally I want them to too as we need more innovation in this sector.
That said, our development roadmap for the next 12 months is truly exciting and we are only just getting started. Bring on the challenge!
