Large sum to invest, but querying if SJP is good value

Alexland

QrizB said:

If OP brings their entire £2.5M portfolio under SJP control, they'll be paying SJP £45k a year in fees.

That's definitely an expensive friend!

For that amount I'd expect the SJP rep to be entertaining me for 2-3 hours a day.

UncleK

As others have advised, SJP are not offering anything approaching value for money. You will be much much worse off than the many other options available to you if you stick with them and the only people better off will be SJP. I suggest the following: Trem Wooden Barge Pole with Chrome Hook

Grafik

Thanks everyone - I really appreciate the time taken to respond.  I confess that I have not given this enough attention over the years (I have been busy working in an intense role to build that pot of cash!).  As mentioned, the cash lump sum only crystalised in the past few months through the sale of the company I work for...and so we never had 'excess funds' in the past to do ISAs (we paid off mortgage though).

I find the prospect of DIY a little daunting - I'd like to think that I have reasonable mental capacity, but I am no expert in financial products.  I'm retiring because my wife is battling stage 4 gallbladder cancer and I don't really want to spend our precious time learning about investments etc. (at least i'm honest!)

I have reached out to a couple of IFAs locally and perhaps once I have some initial meetings, I might feel clued up enough to take on more myself from there.  One IFA suggested that the fee for advising on pension, investments etc, (no IHT planning as I already have discretionary trust via my solicitor) might be in the region of £4-£4.5k.  Again, does that sound reasonable? (they take no fee from the investments they recommend)

Albermarle

Grafik said:

Thanks everyone - I really appreciate the time taken to respond.  I confess that I have not given this enough attention over the years (I have been busy working in an intense role to build that pot of cash!).  As mentioned, the cash lump sum only crystalised in the past few months through the sale of the company I work for...and so we never had 'excess funds' in the past to do ISAs (we paid off mortgage though).

I find the prospect of DIY a little daunting - I'd like to think that I have reasonable mental capacity, but I am no expert in financial products.  I'm retiring because my wife is battling stage 4 gallbladder cancer and I don't really want to spend our precious time learning about investments etc. (at least i'm honest!)

I have reached out to a couple of IFAs locally and perhaps once I have some initial meetings, I might feel clued up enough to take on more myself from there.  One IFA suggested that the fee for advising on pension, investments etc, (no IHT planning as I already have discretionary trust via my solicitor) might be in the region of £4-£4.5k.  Again, does that sound reasonable? (they take no fee from the investments they recommend)

IFAs do not get any commission or fees for recommending products. It is not allowed.
Normally they charge an initial fee for collating all the info about you and your pensions, investments and for transferring them if necessary. This can be between 1 and 3% depending on the size of portfolio to be handled, with maybe a cap for larger clients. So £4K seems reasonable.
Then they will have an ongoing fee- usually 0.5% for larger clients.
They should use a relatively low cost investment/pension platform charging around 0.2%- then investment funds fees on top . The latter can vary a lot depending on the type, but on average hopefully less than 0.5%.

Usually you get a free introductory chat, so you can see how you get along.

UncleK

Grafik said:

I have reached out to a couple of IFAs locally and perhaps once I have some initial meetings, I might feel clued up enough to take on more myself from there.  One IFA suggested that the fee for advising on pension, investments etc, (no IHT planning as I already have discretionary trust via my solicitor) might be in the region of £4-£4.5k.  Again, does that sound reasonable? (they take no fee from the investments they recommend)

As Albermarle says, sounds a lot more like it.

Dead_keen

Grafik said:

... no IHT planning as I already have discretionary trust via my solicitor ...

That rings my personal alarm bell.  For example:

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/sra-investigates-as-scots-firms-demise-hits-thousands-south-of-the-border/5122055.article

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0werz60w1o

Hopefully it's a great answer for you and you took independent advice from someone who specialises in this kind of thing (e.g. a STEP practitioner).  

PensionPotInvestor

Hello Grafik, 1. In my experience IFAs are essential for most tax-related planning, but investing is one of the most challenging things any of us has to do, and although IFAs are fantastic at looking at your overall situation and helping you to decide how much risk to take with your pension pot and ISAs, I've generally found them to be average investors. Having said that, if one does not have the time and/or is not interested in DIY investing then it could be the best option. I'm very lucky in that I love investing, so I don't need to cough up for advice. 2. I assume your IFA quote is based on the total time they expect to spend on the initial advice, as IFAs tend to quote their fee per hour. The UK average is apparently £150 - £170 per hour, so it appears your IFA is expecting to spend over 20 solid hours, coming up with his advice. Hope that helps a little.