SJP defence
David Bellamy, chief executive of St. James’s Place, said: “St James’s Place offers high quality, face-to-face financial advice, evidenced by 98% of clients who said our services represent reasonable, good or excellent value-for-money – with 81% good or excellent.
“Our advisers are committed to putting clients’ interests first and we will continue to provide the excellent service to clients that has underpinned our growth over the past 25 years.”
SJP explained that the 4.5% fee is the charge on the initial investment, while 5% includes other fees.
The restricted advice firm also said that the discrepancies for ongoing charges may have been because some advisers quoted an annual management charge, while other provided an estimate for all charges.
Not acceptable
Which?, however, did not find these “inconsistent explanations” to be acceptable. “If a customer asks about investment costs, they should expect to be told all of them by default.”
SJP added that it expects its advisers to provide documentation detailing costs and services at the first significant meeting – which everyone approached by Which? did.
But the regulation is clear – advisers should both provide written disclosure and a verbal explanation on the costs involved – and four of the 12 advisers Which? met with did not.
