Replace St James' Place

kittycatface

Thanks all good comments. Was just trying to see if there was a way to swap my SJP for a more effective investment with better returns as I already have the ISA and pay tax on savings. Will watch the video on you tube and am grateful for all your comments and help. 

dunstonh

t's really hard to find info if like me you have an arts degree, you feel a bit weird paying an IFA (I work in the NHS and social care and am paid half what they are to give detailed info on people's rights and solve complex probs).

But you are not paying an IFA.  you are paying an FA/sales rep.    And probably paying more than double what you could be paying via an IFA.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Brilley said:

CheekyMikey said:

Well, only you know what portfolio you have and how you are calculating your returns, so I can’t comment on that. All I can see on their published performance data is that for the year to Oct21 their balanced portfolio (which I have equated to medium risk as it is approximately a 50/50 fund) grew by 17.5%. Only their defensive portfolio which is 25/75 had less than double figure growth. Perhaps your portfolio is more defensive than medium risk? If not, then clearly you think TP’s stated performance data is wrong so maybe ask them why your own portfolio performance is so different?

Well, to make it as simple as I can, we had 85k invested at the start of 2017. 

4 years later, at the end of 2021 it had gained £13.5K giving a total of 98.5k,  or the equivalent of 4% per annum. (This has been our max overall / best return to date).

As of the end of last month (7 years), the total value is now a little over 89k, ie an overall total return of just over 4k or the equivalent of 0.7% annual growth since we started.....

That's 5 years not 4.

Eyeful

kittycatface:  Things to keep in mind about investing.
1. There are no guarantees, so you may get out less than you put in.
2. Investing can be as simple or complex as you like to make it. 
3. Investing is for the long term, at least 10 years.  
4. If you want the simple buy and forget approach, suggest you look into a low cost passive Global Multi- Asset Index Fund or ETF.
Examples:-
https://www.hsbc.co.uk/investments/products/hsbc-global-strategy-portfolios/#balanced
https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investing-explained/what-are-lifestrategy-funds?intcmpgn=lifestrategyfunds_learnmore_link
Suggest you read this:-
https://monevator.com/passive-fund-of-funds-the-rivals/

As for Advisors there are two types.
(a) Independent Financial Advisor(IFA). These can look at the whole of the market. You expect them to act as your agent.
(b) Financial Advisor(FA). These go by a variety of names. The key point is they can only advise you on the products their company deals with.  This might mean the worst & costly products on the market. They of course will not tell you this. They are agents of the company. Think of them more as sales persons.