For years, Jeremy* had only good things to say about St James’s Place.
The retiree used to meet with his adviser at the wealth manager once a year to discuss his investments. “It was a pretty comfortable relationship,” he said.
But that all changed when his adviser retired in 2020. Jeremy, 78, said the new employee was far less attentive and when it came to his investments, he felt “abandoned”. This is despite paying an annual advice fee.
“He sent Christmas cards but we never had a review. I never met him in person,” James explained.
Advisers must carry out at least one review each year in order to justify charging an ongoing advice fee, which at St James’s Place is typically 0.5pc of the client’s assets.
The review is a vital check-up where both adviser and client discuss any changes – whether personal or political – that could impact the client’s financial plans.
But in recent months, St James’s Place has come under fire for failing to deliver on this promise. In February, the firm announced it was setting aside £426m to refund clients who had not received ongoing advice despite paying this fee.
Jeremy is one of many clients now fighting to get their money back. Based on his investments since 2020, he estimates that he could be owed thousands of pounds in compensation and emailed his adviser asking about the payout.
But almost five months on, the country’s biggest wealth manager still has not resolved his case. This is despite the adviser admitting in one email, seen by The Telegraph, that he “could have been more proactive” in contacting him.
On April 15, Jeremy emailed: “My primary concern is the lack of an annual review or indeed any kind of advice since you took over the account.
“You say that the matter of compensation is being looked into but frankly that is not good enough.
“I am looking for a more positive statement from St James’s Place/you soonest on this issue. I am advised that I should raise the matter with the Financial Ombudsman and/or engage the services of the many law firms that are offering to take up the matter for a fee of course. Who is dealing with this at St James’s Place and when can I expect a result?”
All Jeremy has received to date are repeated apologies for the delay.
An email seen by The Telegraph reads: “We wanted to let you know we are still experiencing high volumes of complaints, and so it is taking us longer than expected to look into your complaint.
“Please accept our sincere apologies for the ongoing delays – it is not the level of service we want to provide, but rest assured we are taking steps to remedy the current situation.
“We will endeavour to respond to you within the next four weeks, however if this is not possible we will contact you again with an update.”
A spokesman for St James’s Place said: “We received a complaint from the client on April 16 2024, and are continuing to investigate it. We have apologised to him for the time taken to address his complaint and will be responding to him directly in due course once there is an update.”
Thousands owed compensation
In February, St James’s Place removed ongoing advice fees for around 2pc of clients – an estimated 20,000 people – where no regular reviews were being provided.
But the online advice saga has triggered a spike in complaints which has added months to wait times.
These customer service delays have left clients like Jeremy feeling impatient.
“I’ve heard about people who’ve got compensation but conceded 40pc to go through a claims management firm, or jumped through lots of hoops to go to the Financial Ombudsman Service,” he said.
But Jeremy does not want to go down either of these roads. “You would have thought that St James’s Place could push this forward,” he said.
St James’s Place told The Telegraph that it is working through complaints “in date order” – unless there are “exceptional circumstances” – and will aim to provide any compensation owed “as soon as possible”, irrespective of whether the client uses a claims management company.
Another client who faced delays said she was now taking her complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Helen* holds power of attorney for her elderly mother, a care home resident and a client of St James’s Place. She wrote to the wealth manager in April after reading about clients being overcharged.
Concerned her mother could be one of them, she asked the firm to clarify whether her mother had been paying for advice she was not receiving and if she was therefore eligible for a refund.
St James’s Place said her mother had not been paying an ongoing advice charge, and therefore there was nothing to refund.
But it took the wealth manager until July to fully provide this response. During that period, Helen had written three times to its Customer Services Director and once to its chief executive officer, Mark FitzPatrick.
Helen said she was appalled that St James’s Place “keep raking in charges” despite their poor customer service.
Her mother holds investments with the firm, both worth about £23,000, and is paying 1.71pc in fees. Helen said she thought this was “way too high”.
She said: “For a 1.71pc annual fee, St James’s Place’s response to my letters has been very poor.”
Helen was offered £200 by the wealth manager but she has declined this and will take her complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
A spokesman for St James’s Place said: “We have been in correspondence with [Helen] for several months, with the outcome of the investigation into her mother’s investment outlined in a final response letter on July 11 2024. To address her more recent concerns, we are happy to clarify this again.
“The charges applicable to her mother’s investment plan, taken out in 2003, did not include an ongoing advice charge (OAC). As no OACs have been paid, there has been no payment for services not received and there is therefore nothing to refund.
“The annual charges are product and fund-specific charges for managing and maintaining the underlying investments, administering and maintaining the account and keeping in line with changes to legislation and regulation.
“These charges do not relate to the service or advice from the Partner and as such are not refundable. All charges were fully explained in the documentation provided at the time of the recommendations.”
St James’s Place: ‘We apologise for any delays’
St James’s Place has urged clients not to go through claims management firms so they can receive the full amount they are owed. Claims management firms will deduct their fees from client refunds in exchange for their work.
The wealth manager told The Telegraph it will contact all impacted clients as it completes a review of its records going back to 2018. Clients who would like to register to be included in the review can do so by completing the form on its website, the firm added.
On customer service delays, the firm added: “We have seen an increase in the number of complaints received, beginning last year, and we are doing everything we can to work through these as quickly as possible.
“We have put in place processes including training and recruitment to maximise the number we can complete without jeopardising the quality of the investigation. We apologise for any delays clients may experience during that time.”
