Why former APRA exec Geoff Summerhayes is targeting reverse mortgages

Former senior APRA member Geoff Summerhayes, now the chairman of Heartland Bank in Australia, is capitalising on an opportunity to sell reverse mortgages, the controversial product that allows retirees to release equity from their homes to top up their income.

Mr Summerhayes said Heartland’s acquisition of Challenger Bank, completed last month, will allow the New Zealand-listed lender to push a product that has been shunned by major banks to more borrowers.