St James's place wealth management

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  • ColdIron wrote: »
    Nothing wrong with SJP products although they offer a very limited range and nothing you can't get elsewhere. However on a scale of one to five for expense they are a solid five. Heinz Baked Beans at Harrods prices

    Visit some other IFAs and make your own comparison
    So in layman's terms i would invest say £100 with them (the figure could be anything, it's an example only) and i would only be investing £30 into my retirement pot because they'd be taking £70 from me just for the pleasure of it but i could go to [some other option] and my same £100 investment would be putting say £70 into my retirement pot with that company only taking £30.

    Is that basically the situation?

    Very surprised they would use such a limited company.

    We've just come away from an IFA because we didn't feel he listened to us & what we were looking for. This IFA (the one offering SJP) says he's sure he'll beat our workplace pension returns. The whole reason i contacted him was because i want to pay beyond the minimum for the workplace pension & i wondered whether to put it into the WPP or into a private one since my employer will only ever pay in the minimum they have to, so it's no good me paying in 20% as they'll still only pay the minimum.

    Thing is i wont know a good IFA from a bad one i guess unless like the last one they just don't listen. They all sound convincing & if one says - i'll invest here then the only way i'll have an incling that it may not be so good is if i google it/come here.
  • jimjames wrote: »
    If they use SJP presumably that means they're not an IFA anymore?
    They still advertise as one.

    I've just been on their website & the about me for the IFA actually mentioned SJP with:

    "As a representative of St. James's Place Wealth Management,.............."

    Now i don't know the ins & outs of this game but does that mean he's getting paid by SJP to push their product? So it's in his interest for you to go with them when someone else may be better/cheaper/offer more?
  • IAmWales
    IAmWales Posts: 2,024 Forumite
    We had similar, NMO. We were recommended to an IFA who is now tied to St James' Place. We exchanged a few emails and discovered their fees were four times more than other fund managers we were looking at (who historically had better performing funds). Needless to say we went elsewhere.
  • jimjames
    jimjames Posts: 17,515
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    Now i don't know the ins & outs of this game but does that mean he's getting paid by SJP to push their product? So it's in his interest for you to go with them when someone else may be better/cheaper/offer more?

    Yes it seems that way. They can only sell products from SJP even if those aren't the best available and other products are cheaper or better performance
    Remember the saying: if it looks too good to be true it almost certainly is.
  • ColdIron
    ColdIron Posts: 8,790
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    Is that basically the situation?
    That's an extreme example but you have the gist of it. SJP funds are managed by well known and successful fund managers but in essence they are a mirror of the funds they run as their day job. You can access them at a fraction of the cost if you want to DIY but what SJP are offering is regulated advice and this has value and therefore a cost. An Independent Financial Advisor will provide advice but likely at lower cost. He will also be able to offer products from whole of market rather than a limited range

    It's a while since I looked at their charging structure but I believe they still levy an initial fee of up to 5% on purchases which means your investment will have to grow that much to stand still. Few providers operate this model these days. I think they also have a tiered exit fee if you want to move within six years. I am happy to be corrected if this is no longer the case
    This IFA (the one offering SJP) says he's sure he'll beat our workplace pension returns
    Maybe he will, maybe he won't, as I say there is nothing wrong with their funds, though I doubt their surety will make its way into writing. What you have to ask yourself is at what cost
    The whole reason i contacted him was because i want to pay beyond the minimum for the workplace pension & i wondered whether to put it into the WPP or into a private one since my employer will only ever pay in the minimum they have to, so it's no good me paying in 20% as they'll still only pay the minimum.
    Workplace pensions are usually a good deal with low charges. The level of your employer contributions doesn't change this

    I think with SJP it all comes down to the relationship you have with your partner but this is also true with an Independent FA. I have a friend that swears by them but their offering is too rich for me. Like much of life you have to compare costs and make your own judgement
  • I was aware it was an extreme examples but sometimes that's the best way to illustrate a point :) I don't know if £10k is a common base requirement but if so then regardless it gives us about 1-2 years until we have that each so time to speak with other advisers.



    The thing with the workplace pension is i imagine them to be very limited & very middle of the road. Mine is through now pensions and when i asked what i am invested in (to pass this information on to the IFA) it was very wishy-washy. My partner is with nest but can actually change what their pension is invested in whereas i seem to be unable to do so.

    At our age (approaching mid 30s) we feel that something on the riskier side may be more suitable to us since we'll have another 30 years of work in us at least but these workplace pensions may be quite 'safe' if you get me and because of that may not return so well.



    Another option would be to go with Hargreaves Lansdown. I'm familiar with their website but by no means am i confident with investing, i've just seen how their website operates. How would they compare with SJP in terms of charges? Is one cheaper than the other or are they quite similar since i've read on this forum that HL seems to be seen as being quite costly.




    Such a shame it's turned out like this. When the IFA sorted our mortgage they showed us all what was available to them, loads of options and we hoped there'd be similar with this which is why we got back in touch with them as we had such good vibes off them, only to find out they're pushing only one product?
  • So i'd give up £450 just from the off for their advice. That's only to begin with.
    When you invest with St. James’s Place you pay for our advice and the products we recommend. These charges are set out below and you will receive a personalised illustration which sets out how these charges apply to your specific investment which your St. James’s Place Partner will discuss with you prior to you making an investment and incurring any of these charges.

    Advice Charges

    We charge for our initial advice and for our ongoing advice. 4.5% of your initial investment will be used to pay for initial advice and an annual charge of 0.5% will be charged for the ongoing advice and the relationship with your adviser.

    Product Charges

    There will be an initial product charge of 1.5% of your investment. There will also be an annual product management charge of 1% but this will be waived in the first 6 years for each investment. If you encash within the first 6 years of an investment there will be an early withdrawal charge of 1% of the value of your fund in respect of this investment.

    Charges for managing and maintaining underlying investments

    In addition to charges for the advice and the product, there are charges for managing and maintaining your underlying investments. These depend on the funds you choose to invest in. The current level of these charges for each fund can be found here.

    The effect of these charges

    On the basis that your investments remain with us for 6 years, the effect of the above product and advice charges (excluding the charges for managing and maintaining underlying investments) combined is equivalent in total to a 1.5% annual management charge together with a charge which will apply to any amount withdrawn over the first six years on a reducing scale (6% in year 1 reducing to 1% in year 6). This is equivalent to the charges above and not in addition to them.

    The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and may fall as well as rise. You may get back less than the amount invested.
  • Just a quick thought/question before i go to bed

    My wife doesn't generally like going to see anyone about money matters without me. That's her feeling not mine. She has a week off work coming up whereas the earliest i could see an IFA would be the end of Aug/start of Sept.

    If she was to go to an IFA herself, what questions should she be asking?

    I would think:

    who is the pension with
    what are the charges
    How would you decide where to invest my money (such as how would you come to select certain funds).


    Beyond this is there anything she should ask?
  • ColdIron
    ColdIron Posts: 8,790
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    Another option would be to go with Hargreaves Lansdown. I'm familiar with their website but by no means am i confident with investing, i've just seen how their website operates. How would they compare with SJP in terms of charges? Is one cheaper than the other or are they quite similar since i've read on this forum that HL seems to be seen as being quite costly
    HL and SJP are not comparable. SJP offer regulated advice, HL are a fund supermarket and do not provide personal advice
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 115,904
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    This IFA (the one offering SJP)

    SJP do not retail their products via IFAs. Mainly as an IFA wouldn't recommend SJP products as they are damned expensive and easily improved upon elsewhere.

    SJP only retail their products through their own tied sales force/FAs.

    IFAs love coming across SJP clients as they can blow them out of the water in terms of cost and options.

    Any SJP sales rep pretending to be an IFA should be reported for false representation.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
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