Have you heard of St James's Place

Tiggs_2

i am quite lucky in that i live in an area heavily affected by IHT...so much so that that is all my firm does. our seminars on the subject have been fully booked for the last 10 years. Half of that was tied to FP and half as an IFA......in a very nice way, i am shooting fish in a barrel.

i get plenty of referals because i market myself as an IHT adviser (i never focus on "status" because i dont belive (in my line of work) it would assist me getting clients....they simply want a specalist.

via SJP i can promote that specalism far better and more professionally.

anyway.....my only point to all this is that not EVERYONE working in an old style model is stupid and commision hungry to the point of giving poor advice!

Debt_Free_Chick

Tiggs wrote:

i am quite lucky in that i live in an area heavily affected by IHT

Blimey, it wasn't you who invited me to a seminar in Tunbridge Wells, was it?

cloud_dog

Tiggs wrote:

If i ONLY cared about my clients i may not go to SJP.....but i also care about my earnings and the ease of running my business the way i want to......

Tiggs, for me this statement sums it up very nicely. :eek:

cloud_dog

mike_the_bike_2

I looked into them a few years ago with inheritance planning and trusts..The costs were horrendous ..In the end I went to a solicitor of my choice to set the trust up and it cost 20% of what St James were going to charge..I did give them an opportunity to justify why i should use them to set the trust up
and not my own solicitor but to be honest it was a no brainer..still if you go with them ..best of British!

EdInvestor

coatescastle wrote:

We are on the verge of investing £150,000 with a firm called St James's Place. Has anybody heard of them or had dealings with them.

To go back to the OP's query, if he comes back, maybe he's like to tell us what he wants to achieve and what SJP suggested he should do with his money.

Then we could comment on the strategy and on where he might look for alternatives if appropriate .

whiteflag_3

If i ONLY cared about my clients i may not go to SJP.....but i also care about my earnings and the ease of running my business the way i want to - SJP makes my job easier, and i see no significant disadvantage to clients. I am a business man, it so happens i am also a financial adviser.

Nice one Tiggs, Ive got a shovel if you want to did yourself a bigger hole.

Im sure when your doing you next "IHT seminar " that youll make it clear that you are a business man first and and an financial adviser second. Im sure that the opportunity to make a pound or three will not cloud your judgement! :rotfl:

Tiggs_2

whiteflag wrote:

If i ONLY cared about my clients i may not go to SJP.....but i also care about my earnings and the ease of running my business the way i want to - SJP makes my job easier, and i see no significant disadvantage to clients. I am a business man, it so happens i am also a financial adviser.

Nice one Tiggs, Ive got a shovel if you want to did yourself a bigger hole.

Im sure when your doing you next "IHT seminar " that youll make it clear that you are a business man first and and an financial adviser second. Im sure that the opportunity to make a pound or three will not cloud your judgement! :rotfl:

Not sure why the above should be an issue....any business will take steps that benifits itself as a business if theres no harm to its custumers.

In an ideal world for a client i would be avalible 24/7, make no money and mow their lawn while i'm there.......i work in the real world though.

The suggestion that a business spots an oppertunity to change for the better but shouldnt unless the change has a positive impact on the clients (note that i made it clear i see no significant negative impact) is foolish indeed.

It seems the MSE mindset is so warped that it prefers a company to fail but be a bargain for the clients (while it can scrape a living) than see one prosper if some business choices dont involve reducing client costs.

I can only apologise for not running a charity IFA to your high standards!

masonic

Tiggs wrote:

It seems the MSE mindset is so warped that it prefers a company to fail but be a bargain for the clients (while it can scrape a living) than see one prosper if some business choices dont involve reducing client costs.

Why on earth would you infer that a company would be bound to fail by turning its back on an opportunity that did not benefit its customers?

Tiggs_2

masonic wrote:

Why on earth would you infer that a company would be bound to fail by turning its back on an opportunity that did not benefit its customers?

I didnt, i infered that the MSE mindset is such that a company failing but being a bargain is preferable to one prospering from choices that are not directly related to clients saving money.

EdInvestor

whiteflag wrote:

Im sure when your doing you next "IHT seminar " that youll make it clear that you are a business man first and and an financial adviser second. Im sure that the opportunity to make a pound or three will not cloud your judgement! :rotfl:

Puts the problem in a nutshell IMHO.

Investors are looking for a professional who will operate in their interests - like a solicitor, or an accountant - and charge a fee for the service.

What they get is a businessman.

In an ideal world for a client i would be avalible 24/7, make no money and mow their lawn while i'm there.......

If advisors were actually willing to work for fees they could easily show investors how much money they would save by so doing.

But they usually aren't, because they would earn a lot less working for a fee than working as distributors of financial service industry products on commission.