Our Business Strategy
We provide face-to-face advice to clients based on their individual needs and circumstances, adapting the advice as requirements change over time to ensure that recommendations remain appropriate.
This relationship-based approach has proved to be very resilient, no more so than in the volatile period following the credit crunch. There is an increasing demand for trusted face-to-face advice from experienced advisers backed by a strong organisation and brand. We believe we remain uniquely positioned to continue to succeed in our market because of the two fundamental principles that have underpinned our business from day one; the strength of the relationship between our advisers and their clients, and our approach to investment management.
The St. James’s Place Partnership
The members of the St. James’s Place Partnership play the leading part in delivering our wealth management service. The Partnership – so called because of the way they work in partnership with their clients – work from a network of offices across the UK. On average, they have 17 years’ experience in their field and include some of the most experienced, able and highly-regarded professionals working in wealth management today.
All our Partners are experienced advisers; some have particular expertise in specific and often highly technical areas. If a client’s circumstances require specific expertise, the Partner will consult – and if necessary introduce – a colleague who can provide it. Partners often work alongside clients’ other professional advisers, providing a complementary service and a fresh perspective. We believe advice is best given face-to-face and focused on the personal needs of each individual client.
The success of our approach can be seen from the fact that an estimated 92% of new investments come from existing clients or from referrals from them and once invested, clients tend to stay invested with a retention figure of 95%.
Our Approach to Investment Management
Successful investment is critical to future financial wellbeing, but it is a field which presents a unique problem: future performance is unpredictable. As a result, when clients choose an investment manager, no matter how successful, they can never be sure that they have made the right choice. And even if they have, it may not continue to be the right choice over the years to come.
We believe that our approach to investment management addresses these challenges. We do not place clients’ money in the hands of our own team of investment managers; indeed, we have no investment managers of our own. Instead, we are free to choose any investment manager from any fund management firm anywhere in the world.
The responsibility of selecting the range of funds and fund managers that are made available to St. James’s Place clients at any one time falls upon the St. James’s Place Investment Committee, advised by the respected independent investment research consultancy, Stamford Associates.
Stamford Associates share their extensive research of the global investment markets with a small number of companies. We are particularly proud to have them on our team, as St. James’s Place is the only company they work with that provides wealth management advice to private individuals or Trustees.
The Committee meets regularly to review performance and consider detailed reports from each investment manager. If a change in the marketplace calls for the addition of another manager, the Committee will select one. Equally, if the Committee loses confidence in the ability of an existing manager it will replace them.
We remain committed to monitoring and reviewing all of our fund managers to ensure we generate the optimum return for our clients’ investments.