Neville Shaw, our agent, is excellent. He is let down by SJP infrastructure. (1) Breakdowns are too frequent. (2) It does not compare SJP performance upfront against relevant measures. (3) It shoul... See more
Company replied
Companies on Trustpilot aren't allowed to offer incentives or pay to hide reviews.
Based on reviews, created with AI
Written by the company
In a changing world, clear financial advice gives greater confidence and certainty.
Your vision for the future is unique. Yet, whatever your plans, we believe you’d rather take advice from someone you trust. That’s why we want you to know us, just as much as we want to know you.
At SJP, we give you face-to-face, one-to-one guidance to help you achieve your life goals. Wherever you are in your life, we’ll work with you to plan, grow and protect your financial future.
We think the best way to keep your finances on track is to have an individual, ongoing relationship with a trusted adviser.
You’ll meet with your adviser to identify your goals and create a plan that will help you achieve them over the long term. Over a coffee face-to-face, on the phone or via video, they’ll help you stay on track. You’ll get the kind of peace of mind you simply can’t put a price on that comes from knowing you’re on the right path.
Managing your wealth should be simple. That’s why we’re making it personal.
The ‘St. James’s Place Partnership’ and the titles ‘Partner’ and ‘Partner Practice’ are marketing terms used to describe St. James’s Place representatives. Members of the
St. James’s Place Partnership in the UK represent only St. James’s Place Wealth Management plc, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
St. James’s Place Wealth Management plc Registered Office: St. James’s Place House, 1 Tetbury Road, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 1FP.
Registered in England Number 4113955.
SJP Approved 09/12/2024
Tetbury Road 1, GL7 1FP, Cirencester, United Kingdom
Replied to 99% of negative reviews
Typically replies within 48 hours
I have been with SJP for 6 months. On first engagement the pitch was very good, evidence & matrix shared showing possible growth over various timelines.
After I signed up I spent weeks chasing my advisor to add money, had values excuses but eventually added funds. The account has grown which is maybe there saving grace at this point!
My advisor then decided to pack it in as soon as I’d got set up, not the most valuable use of my time to invest time on meetings to plan and set up accounts for them to quit after he gets paid from me.
I have also now been waiting for 3 weeks since since raising a request in September to put more money in my account. The phone process is meant to be 24 hour turnaround but no progress made!
Raised formal complaint and now this takes 8 weeks to handle!
If your looking to invest go somewhere else customer experience is terrible & SJP just tie you in knots unable to do as you wish with your money!
Reply from St. James’s Place
Be very careful when investing in St. James Place. Their fees are high and returns are not very good. Better to put your money in Vanguard. Also if they push you to do a Offshore Bond, make sure to fully understand how you can be taxed significantly higher in some cases if you withdrawal before you retire. I wasn't told about this until I went to pull out the money for home purchase.
Reply from St. James’s Place
I’ve been extremely disappointed with St. James’s Place (SJP). The ongoing advice charge is high, and the service I’ve received has been minimal and generic. Despite paying regular fees, there’s been little proactive advice or tailored guidance about my investments.
What’s even more frustrating is discovering the six-year lock-in period, which makes it difficult to move my funds elsewhere without penalties. On top of that, there appear to be hidden fees and complex charging structures that weren’t made clear at the outset.
When I raised a complaint, SJP’s response felt dismissive and failed to justify the value of the service or the ongoing charges. Overall, I feel trapped in a poor-value arrangement and would not recommend SJP to anyone looking for transparent, client-focused financial advice.
Reply from St. James’s Place
St James's Place is excellent. Their agent is first rate. I get to see them every year. My investment has increased by a good amount in 5 years. My previous company over 20 years made Zero.
Reply from St. James’s Place
I am writing this review on behalf of my 81 year old gran who was trying to sell and settle the shares for the trust she has managed for years. Every time we have tried phoning them, we are confronted with a different person, who detail what we need to do to settle, only for nothing to happen, we then phone to chase up again, for the next person to say you need to do something else. We comply and do as asked. Nothing. Then another phone call. The person there says there are now two additional fictitious signatories on the account. We know there isn’t. They refuse to deal with it. We are now in excess of 10 phone calls now. All our other share holdings with other companies, we’ve had no trouble at all. This company has been diabolical. Keep changing the goal posts. Keeps telling us different things. They hold the lion share of the trust assets too. I would never in a million years recommend this company. We are unable to wind up the trust until this is resolved. They’re quick to take your money, but trying to get it back, absolutely and utterly disgusting. We are now instructing our solicitor to resolve this. In the meantime, let’s hope a stock market crash doesn’t happen eh, because we’ve been battling to get the shares sold for nearly 3 months. St James Place you should be utterly ashamed of yourselves.
Reply from St. James’s Place
When setting up a private pension, I went with SJP on the basis of their legacy and my family's experience. Initially, all was well. Great contact with the partner and seemingly full clarity. Over time though, annual reviews became less consistent and the performance was entirely unclear - as were fees. An independent review also highlighted errors in the risk profile.
This is where it all started going wrong.
I filed a complaint requesting full transparency on the issues and the option of taking my pension elsewhere. It took SJP a full year, and many chases, to respond. In that time, no word from the partner.
The response missed (ignored) the point of the complaint entirely. On escalating this, I am now faced with: further lack of response from SJP and a letter from the partner telling me to find someone else to manage my portfolio. Oh but the kicker is I cannot withdraw my funds without incurring leaving fees for 6 years!
I am simply appalled.
Reply from St. James’s Place
Diabolical company. SJP funds consistently underperform. High charges. Advisors are purely sales people pushing products to line their own pockets. Avoid before they bleed you dry!
Reply from St. James’s Place
This organisation has been the most awful experience I have ever had dealing with anyone. They may have some good reviews for investing but getting your money out is a whole different matter. My father invested in trusts for his family and when I tried to withdraw the money to pay off my morgage was advised not to do so because the returns were better with them. I first approached the chap dealing with my mum (dad died) over 6 months ago and am still waiting having got sick of his empty promises that next week... next week... and so on. Either these people have such contempt for their clients welfare and think the money is theirs or are completely incompetent or corrupt dishonest and greedy. None of which I hope is the case. Be very very careful before you deal with these people and dont do as my dad did and trust them do your own research
Reply from St. James’s Place
After an initial review of my financial status and long term goals (which tbf was free), the only advice i got was to 1) put most of my money into their funds despite their funds being far more restricted than my current portfolios, have higher fees and were performing much worse; and 2) to stop paying in to my Salary Sacrifice pension and instead put my net income into their pension scheme every month.
On my next visit, the FA did backtrack on #2 as it was a stupid suggestion. But by that time, I'd already lost confidence in his competence. And after reading all their material, it just seemed full of charges and restrictions. So I never did sign up.
Reply from St. James’s Place
Poor service, personally disposed of, services shifted with no option to another FA. Steer clear of SJP, very unprofessional.
Reply from St. James’s Place
I’ve been an SJP Client for over five years and have found them to be a very professional and respectful people to deal with. My financial advisor (Leigh Cavanagh) has been supportive throughout my journey with SJP. Yes for a modestly educated person like myself the financial market and personal investments are difficult to fully understand and come with a degree of trepidation but Leigh has been very helpful, honest and practical with his advice. There have been some ups and downs over the five year period I have been a client but at no point was I left in the dark in terms of where things were going and how the markets reacted to the world’s happenings. As I near retirement Leigh has been very thorough in laying things out and explaining the most advantageous ways to start my drawdown journey. A lot of things are talked about via the press and social media regarding the integrity and their fees of companies like SJP however my experience does not reflect the negativity. More than pleased with my service and support to date.
Reply from St. James’s Place
After nearly 6 months of trying to change advisor and complaining to head office I still cannot escape from poor service and disinterested people
A dreadful organisation
Reply from St. James’s Place
Where to start, poor corrupt advice, failure to pay my pension as arranged, hidden charges and I am still waiting for a response 5 months on from making a formal complaint.
This company has absolutely no moral compass, they’re useless.
Reply from St. James’s Place
Avoid SJP at all costs. They charge high fees on your deposits and high withdrawal charges, even to transfer your money to another ISA account. I had my doubts after a couple of years but on the advice of my client advisor, i stuck it out but the rate of return after 4 years was frankly awful. Put your money into moneybox or Trading 212 and puck a safe route such as the S&P 500 and be better off. With SJP, your money goes to pay advisors and to pay their top earners. If you are in any doubt, your money would be better off in an interest bearing savings account.
Reply from St. James’s Place
I took my husbands money out in July, as he has dementia, and he may as well spend it. But he still has money invested in their property unit trust, which I can not get any answers to how long I will have to wait for it. Tried my accounts manager and he can not help. So frustrating. So I’ve had a reply which gives me no answers. Are we talking months or years, as I’m not sure my husband has years
Reply from St. James’s Place
Avoid this company at all costs - declined to transfer the amount to other provider and giving all the wrong reasons. Keep charging high fees and ripping customers off!. Avoid this company
Reply from St. James’s Place
I’d like to extend my utmost gratitude to Craig Digby from St. James’s Place in Singapore for his expertise in navigating my hugely complex redundancy and retirement circumstances,
After being employed by a major bank for 22 years, the thought of making the correct decisions in a fiscally efficient timeline, was extremely daunting for me.
Craig’s extensive knowledge of investment and tax strategies was vital in determining my financial planning trajectory and is now delivering significant dividends.
Reply from St. James’s Place
Why are they sending mailings to advise us of Pension contributions. We already KNOW THAT!!
Wasting pension money!!
3/10/2025 Got another letter as above. These people are supposed to be reviewing their mailings.
About as reliable as the present government IMHO
Reply from St. James’s Place
My Financial Advisor and his excellent team are proactive, good at explaining complex detail so that I can understand it, which enables me to make effective decisions. The performance of my portfolio is outstanding.
Reply from St. James’s Place
Our SJP adviser Nicola always has our interest at heart. She has helped guide us to where we feel secure in our future.
Reply from St. James’s Place
Anyone can write a Trustpilot review. People who write reviews have ownership to edit or delete them at any time, and they’ll be displayed as long as an account is active.
Companies can ask for reviews via automatic invitations. Labeled Verified, they’re about genuine experiences.
Learn more about other kinds of reviews.
We use dedicated people and clever technology to safeguard our platform. Find out how we combat fake reviews.
Learn about Trustpilot’s review process.
Here are 8 tips for writing great reviews.
Verification can help ensure real people are writing the reviews you read on Trustpilot.
Offering incentives for reviews or asking for them selectively can bias the TrustScore, which goes against our guidelines.