Holistic wealth planning isn’t just about managing numbers—it’s about helping people live better lives by connecting their financial world to their goals and values. For decades, property—the place where we build memories, find stability, and ground our lives—has not featured prominently in wealth planning, leaving its role in shaping financial security undervalued.
This perspective needs to evolve. A home isn’t just a roof over your head or a financial obligation—it’s often a client's most personal and powerful asset. It defines lifetime goals, creates opportunities, and provides resilience in times of need. With insights from FNZ, the lang cat, Equity Release Council, and Nokkel, this article explores how property is the missing piece in wealth planning and how technology is reshaping the tools advisors use to help clients harness its full potential.
Completing the Wealth Puzzle
While property is often one of the largest assets most people own, it remains siloed and receives less attention than other assets like pensions or investments. This fragmented view misses the opportunities property provides—not only for its financial attributes but also its role across financial planning, whether that’s living costs in retirement, unlocking wealth, tax planning, estate planning, and much more.
Alastair Conway, FNZ’s Group Head of UK, Middle East & Africa, highlights the importance of addressing this through technology:
At FNZ, we’ve created a single platform that unifies all aspects of a client’s financial world. By integrating property, one of the most personal and significant assets, we deliver complete financial transparency and a truly holistic approach to wealth planning.
Research on property wealth in financial planning highlights the growing importance of property in holistic wealth strategies:
Building Bridges to Retirement Security
Property wealth grows with clients, adapting to every life stage. A young professional might aim to secure their first home or save for a larger property, while retirees can tap into their property’s value to enhance their lifestyle or cover essential care costs. For families, property plays a pivotal role in intergenerational planning, such as gifting wealth to support the next generation's financial future—often including a helping hand onto the property ladder.
Jim Boyd, CEO of the Equity Release Council, highlights its significance:
Integrating property into financial advice gives clients more retirement options. Whether through equity release, strategic downsizing, or passing on wealth to the next generation, understanding property is key to developing tailored financial strategies that adapt to changing needs.
The Equity Release Council works to ensure later-life lending options remain transparent, fair, and secure, advocating for best practices and robust consumer protections to support clients navigating critical financial decisions in retirement.
The FNZ Approach
Digital transformation has raised client expectations for seamless financial planning. FNZ’s integrated platform is breaking down barriers such as fragmented systems, inaccessible data, and complex processes.
FNZ's platform seamlessly integrates property, transforming it from an overlooked asset into a strategic tool for planning. By combining FNZ’s cutting-edge technology with Nokkel’s innovative property wealth tools, advisors can replace manual administrative tasks with valuable, client-focused conversations that unlock new opportunities and drive better consumer outcomes.
The Future of Financial Advice
As the financial advice industry evolves, clients are seeking strategies that address their entire financial picture—including property. Intergenerational wealth transfer is a prime example where property plays a central role, particularly in navigating complex areas like inheritance tax and estate planning.
Tom McPhail, Director of Public Affairs at the lang cat explains:
The financial advice sector is evolving, and the demand for more inclusive wealth planning has never been higher. Clients need to feel that every asset they hold is working toward their financial goals, and advisors have a responsibility to ensure property isn’t left out of that equation.
To meet these demands, advisors must integrate property wealth into their recommendations, particularly when addressing retirement challenges. Housing wealth holds immense potential, particularly as 5 million people face inadequate pension income (UK Data – Pensions Policy Institute). By integrating property into financial advice, advisors can simplify processes and support clients in building lasting financial legacies.
Research highlights the significant role of property wealth in the future of retirement planning:
Unlocking Property’s Potential
For advisors looking to stand out as strategic partners in their clients’ financial journeys, it starts with having the right tools. By integrating property wealth seamlessly into the broader financial picture and highlighting property related advice opportunities, we help advisors move beyond admin-heavy tasks and focus on what really matters—building trust, fostering deeper client relationships, and driving meaningful outcomes.
Roland Whyte, CEO of Nokkel and FNZ partner, shares:
The future of financial advice is about enabling advisors to have deeper, more impactful conversations. Integrating Nokkel into the FNZ solution equips advisors to seamlessly incorporate property into their advice process, identify key advice moments, and connect to appropriate products and solutions.
Integrating property wealth into financial planning helps advisors deliver better client outcomes, save time by automating traditionally labour-intensive processes, and add value through rich, visual insights into a critical component of client wealth – shifting the focus from data gathering to meaningful, client-focused conversations.
Future Trends and Final Thoughts
The future of wealth management isn’t just about technology; it’s about delivering seamless, innovative solutions that simplify life for advisors and their clients.
Together, FNZ and Nokkel are driving this transformation, integrating property wealth into the bigger picture and redefining what’s possible in financial planning.
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Want to learn more? Research from FNZ, Nokkel, and the lang cat highlights the growing importance of property in wealth strategies. Download the full report here.