Should I invest my money with St James Place (SJP)

Spanish_Escape

I am looking to invest some money c£60k and it has been suggested to us to look at doing this investment with St James's Place (SJP). Has anyone got any views and experience of SJP?

ManofLeisure_2

If you do a forum search of ''St James's Place'', I think you will find a few threads with some very negative feedback. Personally, I would avoid them at all costs.

Onawingandaprayer

Definitely not

ColdIron

Short answer - very expensive, restricted choice, slightly better than average product (ignoring expense and choice)

That said, a good friend uses them and is very happy but is wealthy enough to swallow the expense. A lot comes down to how well you get on with your 'partner' (tied salesman)

Personally I wouldn't

Spanish_Escape

Thank you all for your quick replies. We are not experienced in money markets apart from seeking out best ISA rates, current currents etc by using sites like MSE so really need some good honest advice and by someone we can trust. Had poor advise previously by so called IFA's re mortgage so don't want to make the same mistake again. We have family and friends who have used SJP and had mixed opinion from them equally other friends have used other companies and have gained very little or even lost over 2-3 years. Appreciate you have to be in it for the long term to make good gains hence the nervousness and wanting to make the right choice.

ColdIron

2-3 years isn't a suitable time frame for investing, what is yours?
Are you sure you wouldn't be better off with savings?

Spanish_Escape

We are looking to invest for 20 years and more. We are looking to keep adding to our pot each year as much as we can as our aim is to retire early and live aboard part of the year. Ultimately we want an income from our investments when we retire as we are along way off receiving an income from our pensions. I know £60k won't give us a lot in return but we do have other savings in company share schemes and equity in property which we will add when we are in a position too.

gadgetmind

If you don't want to learn how to manage this yourself (it's probably 20x easier than you think!) then finding a good local IFA will give you much better results than using SJP.

I say this as an ex-SJP investor, who then switched to an IFA, and then finally (and not soon enough!) to handling everything myself.

Onawingandaprayer

We have been with Hargreaves-lansdowne for about 10years now and portfolio has increased by 60%. Not the cheapest but suits our needs very well.

ColdIron

You are comparing a non advised platform with a financial advisor, very different things unless you paid HL for advice

dunstonh

. Had poor advise previously by so called IFA's re mortgage so don't want to make the same mistake again.

Most IFAs dont do mortgages. They may employ mortgage advisers and some generic advisers may do both things but then the SJP probably does mortgages too. I would understand not using the same person if you were not happy with them but would be wrong to eliminate all the rest to go with a lesser option.

We have family and friends who have used SJP and had mixed opinion from them equally other friends have used other companies and have gained very little or even lost over 2-3 years.

SJP are slick in presentation. Their offering is not bad but you pay through the nose for it. SJP have a limited in-house product selection. Probably little more than a dozen options. IFAs have whole of market access. Investments are long term. Not 2-3 years. Returns will be based on time and risk and a poor couple of years does not make it bad.

We have been with Hargreaves-lansdowne for about 10years now and portfolio has increased by 60%. Not the cheapest but suits our needs very well.

Is that their advised service (which is actually quite expensive) or their non-advised DIY platform (which is also quite expensive for DIY)