What is the difference between equity and shares? Equity refers to ownership in a company, while shares are units of that ownership. Essentially, shares represent parts of a company's equity.
Whilst both Shared Appreciation Mortgages and lifetime mortgages are a form of equity release scheme, the big difference between these two types of product is that with a lifetime mortgage, rather than agreeing to hand over a percentage of any increase in the value of your property, you're charged a fixed interest rate ...
An alternative to equity sharing is a shared appreciation mortgage. As with equity sharing, there are no monthly payments, and no pre-set interest rate, on a shared appreciation mortgage. But unlike in an equity share, the borrower/occupier is required to fully repay the investor even if the home value drops.
Investing in equity shares is a great idea. The reason is that an equity share indicates that you have a certain percentage of equity in the company. Thus, the returns you get are directly linked to the profits of the company. This makes it a great option as the opportunity to earn a good return is high.