St James' s Place - Williams Birley Wealth Management

nicolaspastor

Has anyone used St James's Place / Williams Birley Wealth Management? I did so and felt so disappointed. Would not recommend to anybody. Happy to hear other s feedback though

ChopperST

A new member criticising a company in their first post?

Forgive me I treat your post with a pinch of salt.

What exactly is your axe to grind with them and poor old Mr Williams?

By the way is it Alex or Aled as you don't seem so sure?!

Vortigern

OP posted the same thing yesterday and that post has at least 18 replies.
Why post it again?

Correction: yesterday's post was in reply to another on the same topic, but OP should beware of posting potentially libellous comments about a named individual.

nicolaspastor

Felt completely abused by them and was surprised not to see any comments online, positive or negative, on them. New to the forum and happy to hear experiences from possible other users

ChopperST

Tred very carefully OP.

You have provided no substance to your critique of the company and a named individual...

Perhaps if you explained in a little more detail people would offer a more informed insight.

dunstonh

I have reported this thread. Not because the OP may have a valid reason to complain (although the story doesnt sound right because SJP are tied agents and dont use third parties) but because they are naming individuals in the post.

bigadaj

Rather bizarre response, apart from the criticism of multiple threads which is valid.

You can't be sued for an opinion after all so why raise this as an issue.

Also in this thread, though not the other a. Corporate body is named, it may be an individuals name but if it's a company it's a company.

If the OP has an axe to grind then that's up to them, but st James place take a lot of stick here,as they are expensive and tied. Though arguably slick and customer focused, surprised at the reaction.

ben_c

I have had a SJP bond for 14years. They have averaged 1.5% p/a and this year the growth was less than 0.5%. I would like to bet the fees they charge to mismanage this performance are larger than the returns. I would not invest with them.

bigadaj

ben_c wrote: »

I have had a SJP bond for 14years. They have averaged 1.5% p/a and this year the growth was less than 0.5%. I would like to bet the fees they charge to mismanage this performance are larger than the returns. I would not invest with them.

There is an absolute requirement for you to know the fees you are being charged, so if you don't have this information ask them and they have to supply it.

We don't have any details on what you have been invested in but that appears a very poor return, people have posted typical fees for Sjp which are significantly higher than those returns.

You can make a formal complaint, initially to the firm and subsequently to the regulator, but poor performance isn't normally something you can get redress for. They can simply explain this away by things such as your risk profile, or particular funds performing poorly.

The only real power you have is to move contact a couple of local IFAs to you and have an initial chat, and whether you do down that route or look to DIY it's never a bad idea to educate yourself as knowledge is power, so do some reading up.

ben_c

Hi Thanks for your advise. I have just had a face to face meeting with one of the partners. He agreed that the returns were as I said l.5% p/a for 14 years. This was in a med/low risk fund he also agreed that this was not acceptable and I could have had better returns in the building society. I have made a complaint and also complained that they changed my portfolio without my adviser explaining any risks, 58% with one fund manager hardly balanced. However they did apparently write to me.This is the first time I have seen them for 4 years . My point would be if an ederly person with little or no understanding of their original investment and they rely on the income, would they carry on taking large fees for a 1.5% gain over 14 year. I guess they would. I have also asked to see the fees they have charged over that period. It will be interesting to see what happens now and if they consider this to be managed and balanced portfolio.