St James’s Place opinions?

MeteredOut

thunderroad88 said:

Wealth managers like SJP fill a gap in the market and provide a useful service for a certain group of people who don’t have the time, inclination and maybe confidence to manage their own money. They’ll probably have enough wealth not to worry too much about achieving the best growth or higher fees. You’ll not find many from that group of people on a site like this and so won’t get a totally rounded view but I doubt they’re for you anyway. Seek out a good IFA to get you started but speaking as one who has recently moved from IFA to DIY, it’s not hard to go it alone once you feel confident in your knowledge. 

It's not SJP v managing their own money. Its SJP (and probably other "wealth managers") versus managing their own money or using an IFA.

I simply cannot see a world where choosing SJP over an IFA is a good option unless one truly does not care about your investment returns, or being able to say you have a wealth manager is something that is important you you.

thunderroad88

MeteredOut said:

thunderroad88 said:

Wealth managers like SJP fill a gap in the market and provide a useful service for a certain group of people who don’t have the time, inclination and maybe confidence to manage their own money. They’ll probably have enough wealth not to worry too much about achieving the best growth or higher fees. You’ll not find many from that group of people on a site like this and so won’t get a totally rounded view but I doubt they’re for you anyway. Seek out a good IFA to get you started but speaking as one who has recently moved from IFA to DIY, it’s not hard to go it alone once you feel confident in your knowledge. 

It's not SJP v managing their own money. Its SJP (and probably other "wealth managers") versus managing their own money or using an IFA.

I simply cannot see a world where choosing SJP over an IFA is a good option unless one truly does not care about your investment returns, or being able to say you have a wealth manager is something that is important you you.

Like I said, they suit a certain type of person but are not a good option for the average joe imo. Plenty of poor ifas around too who’ll charge a lot and invest badly for you too, so going ifa is still no guarantee.

dunstonh

thunderroad88 said:

MeteredOut said:

thunderroad88 said:

Wealth managers like SJP fill a gap in the market and provide a useful service for a certain group of people who don’t have the time, inclination and maybe confidence to manage their own money. They’ll probably have enough wealth not to worry too much about achieving the best growth or higher fees. You’ll not find many from that group of people on a site like this and so won’t get a totally rounded view but I doubt they’re for you anyway. Seek out a good IFA to get you started but speaking as one who has recently moved from IFA to DIY, it’s not hard to go it alone once you feel confident in your knowledge. 

It's not SJP v managing their own money. Its SJP (and probably other "wealth managers") versus managing their own money or using an IFA.

I simply cannot see a world where choosing SJP over an IFA is a good option unless one truly does not care about your investment returns, or being able to say you have a wealth manager is something that is important you you.

Like I said, they suit a certain type of person but are not a good option for the average joe imo. Plenty of poor ifas around too who’ll charge a lot and invest badly for you too, so going ifa is still no guarantee.

So, one option is guaranteed mediocre and expensive and the other may be but may not be and with a bit of shopping around, you can avoid the ones that are.

artyboy

dunstonh said:

thunderroad88 said:

MeteredOut said:

thunderroad88 said:

Wealth managers like SJP fill a gap in the market and provide a useful service for a certain group of people who don’t have the time, inclination and maybe confidence to manage their own money. They’ll probably have enough wealth not to worry too much about achieving the best growth or higher fees. You’ll not find many from that group of people on a site like this and so won’t get a totally rounded view but I doubt they’re for you anyway. Seek out a good IFA to get you started but speaking as one who has recently moved from IFA to DIY, it’s not hard to go it alone once you feel confident in your knowledge. 

It's not SJP v managing their own money. Its SJP (and probably other "wealth managers") versus managing their own money or using an IFA.

I simply cannot see a world where choosing SJP over an IFA is a good option unless one truly does not care about your investment returns, or being able to say you have a wealth manager is something that is important you you.

Like I said, they suit a certain type of person but are not a good option for the average joe imo. Plenty of poor ifas around too who’ll charge a lot and invest badly for you too, so going ifa is still no guarantee.

So, one option is guaranteed mediocre and expensive and the other may be but may not be and with a bit of shopping around, you can avoid the ones that are.

But as we've seen, one bad experience with a potentially bad IFA can have a person spewing negativity about all IFAs for evermore. You can see why some people feel that the warm feeling, shiny suited hug that you get from SJP and the like makes it all worth the money.

MeteredOut

artyboy said:

dunstonh said:

thunderroad88 said:

MeteredOut said:

thunderroad88 said:

Wealth managers like SJP fill a gap in the market and provide a useful service for a certain group of people who don’t have the time, inclination and maybe confidence to manage their own money. They’ll probably have enough wealth not to worry too much about achieving the best growth or higher fees. You’ll not find many from that group of people on a site like this and so won’t get a totally rounded view but I doubt they’re for you anyway. Seek out a good IFA to get you started but speaking as one who has recently moved from IFA to DIY, it’s not hard to go it alone once you feel confident in your knowledge. 

It's not SJP v managing their own money. Its SJP (and probably other "wealth managers") versus managing their own money or using an IFA.

I simply cannot see a world where choosing SJP over an IFA is a good option unless one truly does not care about your investment returns, or being able to say you have a wealth manager is something that is important you you.

Like I said, they suit a certain type of person but are not a good option for the average joe imo. Plenty of poor ifas around too who’ll charge a lot and invest badly for you too, so going ifa is still no guarantee.

So, one option is guaranteed mediocre and expensive and the other may be but may not be and with a bit of shopping around, you can avoid the ones that are.

But as we've seen, one bad experience with a potentially bad IFA can have a person spewing negativity about all IFAs for evermore. You can see why some people feel that the warm feeling, shiny suited hug that you get from SJP and the like makes it all worth the money.

Anecdotal, but I've read about substantially more bad experiences with SJP than I have with IFAs.

I believe one is pretty much guaranteed to give poorer returns that simply investing in a tracker fund.

(I don't use an IFA nor a wealth manager, so I have no skin in this game).

thunderroad88

MeteredOut said:

Partyboy said:

dunstonh said:

thunderroad88 said:

MeteredOut said:

thunderroad88 said:

Wealth managers like SJP fill a gap in the market and provide a useful service for a certain group of people who don’t have the time, inclination and maybe confidence to manage their own money. They’ll probably have enough wealth not to worry too much about achieving the best growth or higher fees. You’ll not find many from that group of people on a site like this and so won’t get a totally rounded view but I doubt they’re for you anyway. Seek out a good IFA to get you started but speaking as one who has recently moved from IFA to DIY, it’s not hard to go it alone once you feel confident in your knowledge. 

It's not SJP v managing their own money. Its SJP (and probably other "wealth managers") versus managing their own money or using an IFA.

I simply cannot see a world where choosing SJP over an IFA is a good option unless one truly does not care about your investment returns, or being able to say you have a wealth manager is something that is important you you.

Like I said, they suit a certain type of person but are not a good option for the average joe imo. Plenty of poor ifas around too who’ll charge a lot and invest badly for you too, so going ifa is still no guarantee.

So, one option is guaranteed mediocre and expensive and the other may be but may not be and with a bit of shopping around, you can avoid the ones that are.

But as we've seen, one bad experience with a potentially bad IFA can have a person spewing negativity about all IFAs for evermore. You can see why some people feel that the warm feeling, shiny suited hug that you get from SJP and the like makes it all worth the money.

Anecdotal, but I've read about substantially more bad experiences with SJP than I have with IFAs.

I believe one is pretty much guaranteed to give poorer returns that simply investing in a tracker fund.

(I don't use an IFA nor a wealth manager, so I have no skin in this game).

I agree..my advice would be to invest in a tracker fund. I wouldn’t touch SJP. All I was saying is that there are enough satisfied customers, for whatever reason, to mean they still have an incredibly successful business. We shouldn’t take the high ground simply because we might know enough to prefer a different option. My ifa was very good and got me to the point where my pf had grown pretty well but also to the point where I realised a tracker would have done better and I was paying £6k a year for no real gain. I’ll return to an ifa for one off advice when I need IHT and succession planning…

LHW99

And at least, invested with SJP should reduce the likelihood of their customers being taken in by scammers.

There are, after all,  plenty of people who prefer Waitrose to Aldi / Lidl. They may not be getting any better nutrition as a result, but they like the experience.

artyboy

LHW99 said:

And at least, invested with SJP should reduce the likelihood of their customers being taken in by scammers.

There are, after all,  plenty of people who prefer Waitrose to Aldi / Lidl. They may not be getting any better nutrition as a result, but they like the experience.

To the best of my knowledge, Waitrose (which I do have a fondness for with some items) doesn't charge me if I want to shop in other stores as well.

Nice analogy otherwise though...

zagfles

artyboy said:

LHW99 said:

And at least, invested with SJP should reduce the likelihood of their customers being taken in by scammers.

There are, after all,  plenty of people who prefer Waitrose to Aldi / Lidl. They may not be getting any better nutrition as a result, but they like the experience.

To the best of my knowledge, Waitrose (which I do have a fondness for with some items) doesn't charge me if I want to shop in other stores as well.

Nice analogy otherwise though...

Shouldn't be using either Waitrose or Aldi, they both offer a restricted range of groceries. What you need is an IGA (independent groceries advisor) who can look at the whole market.

After all Tesco own brand cornflakes might be the best choice cornflakes for you whereas Waitrose tea might suit your palate better. And there might be some obscure baked beans only obtainable from Uzbekistan which are perfect for you so why restrict yourself to any UK supermarket?  

friolento

boingy said:

You should definitely ask your accountant if he is receiving any form of kickback for referring you.
After many years of being happy with my accountant, one day he announced that he was now qualified to offer financial advice on investments and pensions. I didn't get as far as enquiring whether he was an FA or an IFA or what the qualification was. I just found a new accountant.

The accountant might not answer truthfully, and you couldn’t be certain you’d ever find out the truth if it is a private arrangement between the accountant and the SJP salesperson