I'm in a panic about retirement, pensions and investments - talked to SJP and my bank

Mutton_Geoff

Beckster1964 said:

I’ve just looked at the fees for SJP - they are pretty eye watering! Just to get the ball rolling, and based upon my existing pension pot, I would have to give them £24k! I think not…!

Never mind the fees, their reps can only sell their own funds, the majority being dogs.

https://www.yodelar.com/insights/st-jamess-place-review

Dulce-ridentem

@Beckster1964 - SJP 'reduced' their original fees but they are still roughly double what the IFAs are asking. They are more than my bank but my bank also wanted 15K to assess my pensions plus a percentage to invest and manage them and then large further fees to draw down the pensions. So the bank is very nearly as costly as SJP in that regard (bank charges 1.25% amc without advice compared with about 0.65% from both IFAs I'm talking to).

Their offshore bond fee was 12.5% spread over first 5 years plus ongoing annual charge -- I understand Transact charge £80+vat pa for the wrapper.

katejo

artyboy said:

Albermarle said:

katejo said:

Dulce-ridentem said:

It's a good problem to have. We have always been financially prudent and have been lucky enough to have substantial savings and pension pot, with some DB pension as well.

How do I find a good IFA who can help plan the best route to mix drawdown of pensions and minimise tax? I know it's a repeat question on MSE forums but I haven't found a recent answer and have some specific wrinkles.

I don't want to work hard at investments. I do want to manage tax effectively. I have no dependents and want to die broke (and enrich some charities, ultimately)! We've gradually built up our assets over 40+ years of hard work and I'm so used to saving I don't know how to spend.

Half our savings are in fixed term bonds and half with a major bank for whom we are 'high net worth' customers. The bank have delivered about 6% TWRR over the past 9 years  (that's the equivalent annual growth rate if compounded). They have also been awful at communication.

SJP would love to manage our cash and our pensions (!). They charge more than the bank but the IFA involved would probably add value through tax wrappers and advising on drawdown strategies (so we live off a mix of capital and income and minimise tax). I'm a little unsure about some of his recommendations as the fees are high and I can't see the advantages (offshore bonds with 12% fees over first 5 years, and SJP taking over one of my pensions that guarantees 3.5% pa after fees which is modest but secure...)

We've got some big bonds just maturing this week that usually I'd shove into the best rate I can get, currently pretty good - I keep to 85K per institution. Of course SJP say don't do that. So I'm getting anxious and I know I shouldn't make such a big decision quickly.

How do I find an IFA who can help with this? I don't think the bank will step up given their past performance. The SJP IFA is bearable as salespeople go but I can see MSE don't like SJP. I've read the reports saying SJP funds perform poorly but SJP say those reports are inaccurate ...

I know I'm lucky but it actually feels like a burden! Where do I go for advice, please?

I can't advise you but will just say that I have found  the SJA  advisor very helpful. I know that he isn't independent but he hasn't been a pushy salesman either. I wouldn't have agreed to take him on if he had been.  I only have investments with them though not my pension.

A family member loves their SJP advisor. Having read many posts about them and about different IFA's, you can see some pros and cons to SJP.
Pros- Professional sounding people and literature; Make an effort to get to know you/your family and keep in regular contact ( remember your birthday and things like that ) It would appear from posts on here some IFA's are not very good at regular updates/keeping the customer sweet. ( I am sure some are very good at this though) 
Cons - Restricted product offering ( not going to comment on SJP funds performance as I am not sure of my facts); high fees ; Lock in for up to 6 years ; sometimes seem to suggest over complicated investments that can lock you in even further/difficult to untangle later ( of course you can say no to these) 

Well according to a Telegraph article, SJP currently has 900,000 clients and is the UKs biggest 'wealth manager'.

So they must be doing something right - just a shame that doesn't include having funds that can even claim to be average performers. Or anything approaching reasonable fee levels. It sounds as though they are the next target of the ambulance chasing law firms...

The ambulance chasing law firms have already started. I saw an ad over the weekend for AMK which claims that SJP is charging huge fees but not providing the service. I did make an initial basic enquiry but I am not going to pursue it. They have tried to ring me several times today even though I replied by email to say I was at work and couldn't answer calls. I sent an email with a couple of basic questions which they haven't bothered to answer. Also I have since read that they are looking for clients who haven't had an annual review with their SJP advisor for more than 10 years. I have now found the following Trustpilot review  Amklegal Reviews | Read Customer Service Reviews of www.amklegal.co.uk (trustpilot.com)
I am due an annual review from St James in January and intend to bring up the subject of their performance with the advisor who, up to now has been extremely professional and helpful.