St James Place - damning Which article

[XFool]

A quick look at the addresses and cars of some of these so called 'advisers' will tell you many have become millionaires whilst working for SJP.

"Where are the customer's Maseratis?"

An old one, of course, but how many Maseratis does one customer need?

Get thee to pedants' corner!

[LooseCannon101]

I saw in today's edition of the Evening Standard an article headlined - 'Advisors flock to St. James's as tighter regulations stoke fears'.

In addition, St. James's chief executive David Bellamy is quoted as saying - 'IFAs are responsible for their business and that causes them anxieties. There's a vulnerability for them and their clients. Some of them come almost because we can keep them and clients safe'.

SJP's funds under management rose to a record £83 billion for the six months up to June, with net inflows of £4.3 billion according to the same article in the Evening Standard.

High fees = high rewards. No wonder advisors are flocking to SJP!

[LooseCannon101]

St. James Place are advertising in the Daily Telegraph at the moment.

They are running roadshows at various hotels around the country - flogging their own in-house financial products to unsuspecting punters.

[LooseCannon101]

St. James Place (SJP) Wealth Management have been aggressively advertising their wares in the Telegraph and City AM newspapers over the past month. Their tag line is 'Face-to-Face Award-Winning Advice' above a list of awards won. These awards are from Wealth Adviser (Best High Net Worth Team), City of London Wealth Management (Wealth Management Company of the Year), Personal Finance (Best Financial Adviser), Shares Awards 2019 (Best Wealth Manager) and Wealth Adviser (Best Wealth Manager - Growth Portfolio).

How can these awards be warranted considering the panning SJP received from Which, The Sunday Times and from the majority of contributors to this site? As has been mentioned before, advisers love working for the SJP as they receive huge commissions and all-expenses holidays - all paid for by the unsuspecting retail punter through a confusing array of high fees and churning.

[scrumpyjack]

St. James Place (SJP) Wealth Management have been aggressively advertising their wares in the Telegraph and City AM newspapers over the past month. Their tag line is 'Face-to-Face Award-Winning Advice' above a list of awards won. These awards are from Wealth Adviser (Best High Net Worth Team), City of London Wealth Management (Wealth Management Company of the Year), Personal Finance (Best Financial Adviser), Shares Awards 2019 (Best Wealth Manager) and Wealth Adviser (Best Wealth Manager - Growth Portfolio).

How can these awards be warranted considering the panning SJP received from Which, The Sunday Times and from the majority of contributors to this site? As has been mentioned before, advisers love working for the SJP as they receive huge commissions and all-expenses holidays - all paid for by the unsuspecting retail punter through a confusing array of high fees and churning.

The cynic might say because SJP buy lots and lots of advertising space in those publications.

Their main skill is of course salesmanship and marketing, smooth talking likeable people who win over the patsies with their spiel, not with their value for money.

It is sad that so many are taken in by this.

[ReformedCharacter]

The cynic might say because SJP buy lots and lots of advertising space in those publications.

Their main skill is of course salesmanship and marketing, smooth talking likeable people who win over the patsies with their spiel, not with their value for money.

It is sad that so many are taken in by this.

I've been writing a series of short articles for one of my sons about investment. I'm due to write one on the subject of costs and bookmarked this article from the DT (premium):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consu ... -get-cash/

However, if you invested £100,000 a year ago through a worldwide tracker fund, such as the HSBC MSCI World ETF, even when you deduct 0.5pc for advice fees – what St James’s Place charges – and platform fees of around 0.45pc from its performance, you would still be almost £2,000 better off now than if you’d had put the money into St James’s Place’s largest fund: its Global Equity fund – although this may not be representative over the long term.

My adviser smiles again, looking ready to wrap up, and I realise there’s been no mention at all of what I’ll be charged for all these “unique” services.

Then begins a convoluted and baffling explanation of how much I’d pay in fees, starting with an initial fee of up to 4.5pc on any money I hand over – “although I usually only charge 3pc as I think that’s too expensive,” I’m told – plus a charge of 0.5pc for ongoing advice.

A long pause ensues. “Anything else?” I query. “Ah well, of course, you pay around 1pc to St James’s Place too, separately to what you pay me as an adviser,” he adds. This is in addition to the 1.5pc cut the firm takes from his initial fee.

RC

[Urbandreamer]

The cynic might say because SJP buy lots and lots of advertising space in those publications.

Their main skill is of course salesmanship and marketing, smooth talking likeable people who win over the patsies with their spiel, not with their value for money.

It is sad that so many are taken in by this.

I deal with a number of organisations. Most I have is in a pension with Aviva. I have accounts with Selftrade and AJ Bell. However I also have dealings with St' James Place and a traditional stockbroker.

Value for money is not a constant and depends upon what services you value. I confess that I have very little invested with St James, however I am a happy customer.

I do think that they are the sort best suited to those who just want someone else to do the work for them and to feel confident in their abilities to do so. There IS a reason why banks use to have large impressive buildings.

ie
https://www.novaloca.com/retail-premise ... tts/168034

[Joe45]

I recently discovered that a newly divorced close relative had gone to SJP for advice as to how to invest her annual ISA allowance. She paid 5% for the advice and was told to invest in 13 different funds, all managed by, guess who, SJP.

Fund charges ranged from 1% to 1.9% and there was then a 0.35 annual fee for 'ongoing advice'. The funds generally under-performed and just to add insult to injury, they charged a 5% fee for withdrawal in less than 5 years. Absolutely shocking.

She is now in low cost trackers accessed through an on-line platform.

[GeoffF100]

I know someone who uses (or should I say is used by) them. This video gives the lowdown on SJP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-UP-XDUPWM

[LooseCannon101]

I've just seen this article in the Financial Times.

https://www.ft.com/content/1280b319-578 ... 306c2d1389

Why has it taken such a long time for the regulators to act?

St. James's Place is fleecing unsuspecting customers with high charges, poor performance products and exit penalties, all under the guise of providing 'professional advice'.

The whole organisation needs to be closed down immediately.