St. James's Place in the news recently.

advent2020

I have pension and investment with SJP.
i asked my advisor if i should be worried.

he said "Simple answer is no. SJP’s share price and where your funds are invested are two very different things."

Will I get any compensation  re high fees.

Overall, I've been with them since the 90s and my investments have done well, last few years 8-12% increase.  The advisors have all been excellent people and often improved my financial position and have saved me thousands on mortgages.
They're a bit crap at sorting out my business tax compared to my accountant two doors down.
I get a good pension pay minimal tax (it's all return on investment)

I think maybe I should diversify some just in case.
What does the team think?

dunstonh

I have pension and investment with SJP.
i asked my advisor if i should be worried.

You asked a sales rep of SJP whether you should be worried about SJP.....     Probably not the best person to ask.

he said "Simple answer is no. SJP’s share price and where your funds are invested are two very different things."

That is true.  However, some of its agents are in for a hammering.

Will I get any compensation re high fees.

No.   It was your choice to go with an expensive option.  There is no price regulation in financial services.

Overall, I've been with them since the 90s and my investments have done well, last few years 8-12% increase.  The advisors have all been excellent people and often improved my financial position and have saved me thousands on mortgages.

Thats great.  However, its also worth remembering that the same could be achieved at lower cost with an independent.

They're a bit crap at sorting out my business tax compared to my accountant two doors down.

SJP reps are not accountants.   So, you wouldn't expect them to be as good as an accountant.   Accountants and financial advisers are two distinct roles.  Its a bit like saying your plumber is rubbish with gas appliances.

I think maybe I should diversify some just in case.

Having multiple providers or multiple advisers doesn't diversify in a sensible way.  Indeed, having multiple advisers creates additional costs and issues.  I have one client who insists on two different advisers. One for pensions and another for ISAs, GIA and offshore bonds.   He refuses to share details between the two advisers.   So, all the tax efficiency options do not take place and its creating a worse outcome.

If you put a Global Tracker into 10 different pensions, you will get the same return in all 10 and have the same investment risk as if you had a global tracker in one pension.

Somebody

advent2020 said:

Will I get any compensation  re high fees.

Depends on the level of service you received over the years.  Did you have at least an annual review with your advisor?  If not, you may have a case and I read SJP have set aside £426m to cover complaints over services customers claim not to have received.

MEM62

Somebody said:

advent2020 said:

Will I get any compensation  re high fees.

Depends on the level of service you received over the years.  Did you have at least an annual review with your advisor salesman?  If not, you may have a case and I read SJP have set aside £426m to cover complaints over services customers claim not to have received.

Corrected that for you  :-)

Beddie

If you're happy with them then there's no need to change. You pay higher charges for their services than others, but that's for you to decide if it's worth doing that. 

As for their share price, the adviser was right - it has no bearing on your investments, as they are ring-fenced.

advent2020

Body is required.

advent2020

dunstonh said:

I have pension and investment with SJP.
i asked my advisor if i should be worried.

You asked a sales rep of SJP whether you should be worried about SJP.....     Probably not the best person to ask.

he said "Simple answer is no. SJP’s share price and where your funds are invested are two very different things."

That is true.  However, some of its agents are in for a hammering.

Will I get any compensation re high fees.

No.   It was your choice to go with an expensive option.  There is no price regulation in financial services.

Overall, I've been with them since the 90s and my investments have done well, last few years 8-12% increase.  The advisors have all been excellent people and often improved my financial position and have saved me thousands on mortgages.

Thats great.  However, its also worth remembering that the same could be achieved at lower cost with an independent.

They're a bit crap at sorting out my business tax compared to my accountant two doors down.

SJP reps are not accountants.   So, you wouldn't expect them to be as good as an accountant.   Accountants and financial advisers are two distinct roles.  Its a bit like saying your plumber is rubbish with gas appliances.

I think maybe I should diversify some just in case.

Having multiple providers or multiple advisers doesn't diversify in a sensible way.  Indeed, having multiple advisers creates additional costs and issues.  I have one client who insists on two different advisers. One for pensions and another for ISAs, GIA and offshore bonds.   He refuses to share details between the two advisers.   So, all the tax efficiency options do not take place and its creating a worse outcome.

If you put a Global Tracker into 10 different pensions, you will get the same return in all 10 and have the same investment risk as if you had a global tracker in one pension.

Thanks for the help/

Why does it keep saying body is 10 characters too short?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

advent2020 said:

dunstonh said:

I have pension and investment with SJP.
i asked my advisor if i should be worried.

You asked a sales rep of SJP whether you should be worried about SJP.....     Probably not the best person to ask.

he said "Simple answer is no. SJP’s share price and where your funds are invested are two very different things."

That is true.  However, some of its agents are in for a hammering.

Will I get any compensation re high fees.

No.   It was your choice to go with an expensive option.  There is no price regulation in financial services.

Overall, I've been with them since the 90s and my investments have done well, last few years 8-12% increase.  The advisors have all been excellent people and often improved my financial position and have saved me thousands on mortgages.

Thats great.  However, its also worth remembering that the same could be achieved at lower cost with an independent.

They're a bit crap at sorting out my business tax compared to my accountant two doors down.

SJP reps are not accountants.   So, you wouldn't expect them to be as good as an accountant.   Accountants and financial advisers are two distinct roles.  Its a bit like saying your plumber is rubbish with gas appliances.

I think maybe I should diversify some just in case.

Having multiple providers or multiple advisers doesn't diversify in a sensible way.  Indeed, having multiple advisers creates additional costs and issues.  I have one client who insists on two different advisers. One for pensions and another for ISAs, GIA and offshore bonds.   He refuses to share details between the two advisers.   So, all the tax efficiency options do not take place and its creating a worse outcome.

If you put a Global Tracker into 10 different pensions, you will get the same return in all 10 and have the same investment risk as if you had a global tracker in one pension.

Thanks for the help/

Why does it keep saying body is 10 characters too short?

You have to include (at least) 10 characters when replying to a post.

michael1234

I have a very unusual company pension. The pension administrators themselves recommended a particular person (who works in a practice affiliated to SJP). The pension people said they have had "several" pension transfers fail by other people.

I found it odd that the pension administraters themselves would "recommend" a particular IFA for a pension transfer but I am reluctant to go against that not least as the SJP person seems to have offered me what I as a layman consider a reasonable deal. After 5 years I can move free of charge and during the first 5 there is a fee taper which starts at 8% then every year goes down by 2% until zero at 5 years.

Seems to me each SJP company is different so maybe depends on exactly which company you go with?

michaels

I would be happy to steal only 20% of your pension pot and advise you to invest in a global tracker and a bond fund.

michael1234

How can they "steal" 20% without you noticing ?