Saint James's Place

SweatyBald

The Olympic. Unrelated. But bad luck.

Voyager2002

SweatyBald wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for comments.
Bowlhead - especially thanks to you for that long reply which probably took a lot of time.
Thing is, I'm good in my markets, which is why I'm making good money at the moment, but I know crap all about this stuff. My gut is to invest in companies that make money (dividends) for growth in good markets, and not much beyond. That means Shell, BP, Glaxo, BHP, RWE blah blah.

All I need is to know the stuff I'm putting away now, will still be there, and worth more (hopefully a lot more) than RPI+ or base rate (not hard) when I retire.

I did some more checking, and the top 4 funds I have all underperformed the industry benchmark, but not by that much. But they do rightly get bad press because of it. The US equity was high top quartile, even though all US funds have done well. I have 30% of my portfolio there because whatever you think of Trump we all knew he would pump the US back into it.

I am not the kind of guy that will sweat about only getting 9% when I could have have 11%. I like rock'n'roll, booze, motorcycles, guns and chicks... I hate money, despite apparently having quite a bit of it.

I'll probably die by 65 anyway.
I really do appreciate all the comments, I'm going to think more over it and try to decide if I'm a mug, or just someone that actually needs to pay fees so that someone else makes sure I have a decent retirement pot.
Cheers.

Well now: in order to achieve the objectives that you have stated, you either pay someone fees or you work it all out for yourself. Personally I do not use an IFA, but have put a fair amount of time into learning about investing. If you do not have the time for this, then you really do need to pay someone to do it for you. That is what you are doing with SJP, but of course paying really high fees could end up being almost as bad as DIY done by someone who doesn't know what they are doing. The message of this discusion is that you could easily find an IFA who would do as good a job as SJP for a far lower cost.

And please don't be tempted by the DIY route: the post that I have quoted contains several 'howlers' and demonstrates that you have not yet found time to study this topic. For instance, you are likely to do better investing in companies that will grow and whose shares will increase in value, rather than in ones that simply use their profits to pay dividends and do not grow.

HardCoreProgrammer

For someone who claims to have no time learning about investments, time does not seem to be an issue as to writing on this forum.

I wonder if their employer knows how they are up to, when supposed to be at work (and being paid)?
Only employer who would tolerate this is ... St. James Place, thus not surprising that people start asking questions who OP works for.

Simplest way to investment: stick the money in a Vanguard global tracker fund. If not happy with 100% in equity, then buy bond funds and/or gold. Takes 5 minutes. Could have done that when writing all these comments.

OldMusicGuy

SweatyBald wrote: »

I really do appreciate all the comments, I'm going to think more over it and try to decide if I'm a mug, or just someone that actually needs to pay fees so that someone else makes sure I have a decent retirement pot.

SweatyBald, hopefully this thread has opened your eyes somewhat. Don't feel bad, you haven't been a mug, you were just sucked in by the smooth SJP marketing. I've been in a similar position to you - well paid, high stress job, too "busy" to worry about pensions. I nearly got sucked in by Fisher Investments (similar but different to SJP) until I took a step back and did a bit of research myself. I would recommend you do the same. Take time to do some research and reading before you decide your next step.

The good news is that your investments have done OK and you are happy with where you are. Many on here would all say you paid way too much for the service but at the end of the day you are not in a bad position. There's no need to rush into anything. The worst thing you can do is to make the classic mistakes you seem to be ready to make - come out of SJP and throw money around at random stocks, find a few funds that people recommend and throw money at them, and generally have no clear investment strategy.

You have three alternatives IMO:

1. Stick with SJP.
2. Move to a lower cost IFA. Now you know more, you may be able to ask harder questions of an IFA. Several on here state they will explain to clients why they are a better option than SJP.
3. Manage your peniosn investments yourself.

The last alternative is the one you need to research to decide if it is right for you. Being a DIY investor does not mean you have to become an expert stock picker. There are very easy to manage, low cost ways of investing a pension pot. I know, because that's what I do. But it's not for everyone.

So before you decide anything, I would suggest you read this blog post:

https://theescapeartist.me/2015/09/07/honey-i-fired-the-financial-adviser/

Then have a look at these books:

- Investing Demystified by Lars Kroijer
- DIY Simple Investing: A Guide to Simple but Effective Low Cost Investing by John Edwards

Also, spend a bit of time looking at the Monevator website.

Once you have done all that, you will then be in a much better position to decide which of the three options to take. You will also be able to have much more informed discussions with your SJP partner or an IFA if that's the route you choose to go down.

Having a clear strategy for you pension investments is one of the most important things you can do in your life. It's worth taking a bit of time to think about it.

SonOf

DIY and knowing what you are doing are important. If you dont know what you are doing then it can be costly. One of my colleagues had a new client come to him last week who was investing on a DIY basis with HL and used three own brand HL Multi-manager funds. He was paying more in ongoing charges on DIY than he would have been had he been with SJP. Let alone the even lower charges he was getting with the new IFA. He also had carried out a transaction whilst DIY that had he used an adviser he would not have been told to do and that transaction is probably going to cost him many thousands of pounds unnecessarily.

DIY needs some understanding. If you have it then you can save money and do well. If you don't have that understanding, you can end up paying more in charges and make mistakes.

So, the choice should be either to DIY or use an IFA. Not to use an FA/sales rep.

OldMusicGuy

SonOf wrote: »

One of my colleagues had a new client come to him last week who was investing on a DIY basis with HL and used three own brand HL Multi-manager funds.

Anyone using HL multi-manager funds on a DIY basis clearly hasn't done any of the reading or research I mentioned above. It's another over-priced option designed to appeal to people who don't want to do a bit of reading or research.

All power to HL's marketing of course.....

MPN

I moved my pension from SJP to my own SIPP some time ago, however my wife's pension remains with SJP in just 4 funds.

She last received a statement from SJP on the 18 September 2018 and the value was £155,250 and as of close of business yesterday the value of the funds is now £166,460 so in the past 10 months it has gained £11,210 after all charges. Bearing in mind the market corrections from last October to the New Year she is very happy with the current value. I suppose it not all doom and gloom with SJP as I'm sure there are many other clients that are happy with them rather than DIY and get it totally wrong.

fred246

I am sure there will be plenty of IFAs who charge as much as SJP. You read loads of threads on here with people quoting their IFAs charges and asking if they are fair. An IFA always appears and says they are above normal and it must be a rogue IFA. IFAs and SJP both charge outrageous amounts for what they do. IFAs are free to set their own fees and can charge more than SJP if the customer lets them get away with it.

MPN

fred246 wrote: »

I am sure there will be plenty of IFAs who charge as much as SJP. You read loads of threads on here with people quoting their IFAs charges and asking if they are fair. An IFA always appears and says they are above normal and it must be a rogue IFA. IFAs and SJP both charge outrageous amounts for what they do. IFAs are free to set their own fees and can charge more than SJP if the customer lets them get away with it.

I know SJP are very expensive and that is the reason I chose to transfer to my own SIPP. Unfortunately for me I invested last September at the height of the market so I've only recently been showing some profit after the market corrections from October to January. I asked my wife to stay with SJP so that firstly we could assess how I do with DIY in my own SIPP.

ColdIron

fred246 wrote: »

I am sure there will be plenty of IFAs who charge as much as SJP.

IFAs do not charge a 5% initial fee or up to 6% exit fees