St james Wealth
Discussion
Had several calls from one of their salesman regarding investing in funds etc.
Any thoughts on the company please.
I understand their charges are quite high BUT if they offer better returns that alone would not put me off.
Would I be better looking at say Hargreaves Lansdown and if so why and what is difference between the services they offer.
Any thoughts on the company please.
I understand their charges are quite high BUT if they offer better returns that alone would not put me off.
Would I be better looking at say Hargreaves Lansdown and if so why and what is difference between the services they offer.
Thanks to all for your comments.
It would appear that finding a good IFA might be the best way for me to proceed.
I am in a London,how do I go about finding a suitable IFA and how much might I expect to pay for his /her services.
What about me just going to the banks I use and taking advice from their advisers or are they tied in to only their own products.
The stock market appears to be overheating at the moment,one reason being that many are seeking better returns by going into stocks and shares,fed up with the very low rates from saving accounts.
So should I wait for the market to settle down or is trying to time the markets a waste of time over a 5 year period.
It would appear that finding a good IFA might be the best way for me to proceed.
I am in a London,how do I go about finding a suitable IFA and how much might I expect to pay for his /her services.
What about me just going to the banks I use and taking advice from their advisers or are they tied in to only their own products.
The stock market appears to be overheating at the moment,one reason being that many are seeking better returns by going into stocks and shares,fed up with the very low rates from saving accounts.
So should I wait for the market to settle down or is trying to time the markets a waste of time over a 5 year period.
Tiggsy said:
I know that my regular curry night, with adviser/mates who all began together 20 years ago before going in different directions, always ends up with the IFAs moaning about regulation and arguing with each other over the best way to advise/fee charge/etc while the SJP guys just chat about their next holiday 
I would suggest that if you IFA's charged a percentage of the annual profits that your clients made from your advice, that would certainly impress me .Being a simple guy that stands or falls by his own decisions I find it difficult to hand over money to a person or organisation that takes a fee on advice that makes me a loss. I can do that for myself !
I know that this is not practical on everything you advice on......just saying.
Tiggsy said:
That's like only paying a private Dr for successful treatment of conditions that they can't guarantee success with.
No that's about an IFA having enough confidence in his advice to take responsibility and taking a share of the profits.Surely most years a good IFA might be expected to make his client a profit,if not what is the advice worth ?
Tiggsy said:
avinalarf said:
Tiggsy said:
That's like only paying a private Dr for successful treatment of conditions that they can't guarantee success with.
No that's about an IFA having enough confidence in his advice to take responsibility and taking a share of the profits.Surely most years a good IFA might be expected to make his client a profit,if not what is the advice worth ?
I my business if I call it badly wrong I also suffer the consequences.
i would be cautious about the stock market and property over the next 12 months so if my client had a low/moderate risk profile I would advice accordingly. I understand nobody has a crystal ball just saying not thrilled at taking and paying for advice that doesn't perform.
Anyway not suggesting I am the oracle, I was only making what I considered to be a fair comment.
I would also expect to pay a fee for meeting with the advisor.
Thank you Walm for your interesting comments on the subject.
The problem for me is that I appear to have a somewhat mental block when it comes to entrusting other peoples advice on where I should put my money.
I am used to making my own decisions based on my experience and knowledge.
I also find it tiresome getting cold called by SJW but that's his job.
I also baulk at the 5% entry charges which is quite a whack.
The problem for me is that I appear to have a somewhat mental block when it comes to entrusting other peoples advice on where I should put my money.
I am used to making my own decisions based on my experience and knowledge.
I also find it tiresome getting cold called by SJW but that's his job.
I also baulk at the 5% entry charges which is quite a whack.
Tiggsy said:
avinalarf said:
He might have foreseen that the markets were unstable and suggested putting the majority of your capital into more suitable products .
And when he made that call, which would have gone against the opinion of most others at the time, and the market rose...would you want him to lose out then as well?You don't pay an adviser to second the guess the market for you - he puts you in the right place for you, acknowledging that there will be ups and downs on the path to your goal.
You can't penalise an adviser for a falling market any more than not pay a taxi fare if he runs into a traffic jam.
There are times when even a layman can see that certain markets are overpriced and that the usual cyclical correction might take place ,e.g. At the moment the property market in certain parts of the U.K. , investing in China .
Therefore I would expect an IFA to point out these anomalies to a client.
I would not expect an IFA to make the right call every time but would expect him to have a grasp of what was going on,otherwise anyone could call himself a Financial Advisor and just go with the flow.
However I have been told by Limpsfield and yourself that this is not the job of an IFA,and I can see that point,so maybe that is the case and I should calm down.
PhilboSE said:
Avinalarf, I'm with you 100%.
The financial industry is self-serving first and foremost. I'd prefer other models of remuneration - say 20% of the gains, or even more if they shared the risk and paid me something back in the event of a loss. Instead the industry is structured so that they are all guaranteed to take a slice of your capital - regardless of the quality of the advice.
Currently it's proving quite hard to get much above 5% without going into highly volatile/risky investments. Typical "industry" fees for the platform, adviser and fund manager (assuming zero entry/trading costs) are a minimum of 1.5%.
So the investor provides 100% of the capital, assumes 100% of the risk, and on a fund returning 5% gets just over two thirds of the return - the industry helping itself to the other one third. Share the risk, share the return but of course the industry wants to guarantee its income year on year regardless of performance.
And then factor in that around 90% of managed funds provide a worse return than their sector trackers over the long term, and you begin to wonder just what all the fees are buying you...
Well Philbo,that is exactly my take on the subject,it's Heads I win tails you lose.The financial industry is self-serving first and foremost. I'd prefer other models of remuneration - say 20% of the gains, or even more if they shared the risk and paid me something back in the event of a loss. Instead the industry is structured so that they are all guaranteed to take a slice of your capital - regardless of the quality of the advice.
Currently it's proving quite hard to get much above 5% without going into highly volatile/risky investments. Typical "industry" fees for the platform, adviser and fund manager (assuming zero entry/trading costs) are a minimum of 1.5%.
So the investor provides 100% of the capital, assumes 100% of the risk, and on a fund returning 5% gets just over two thirds of the return - the industry helping itself to the other one third. Share the risk, share the return but of course the industry wants to guarantee its income year on year regardless of performance.
And then factor in that around 90% of managed funds provide a worse return than their sector trackers over the long term, and you begin to wonder just what all the fees are buying you...
The contrary argument is that an IFA is for guidance on long term investment strategy after discussing the risk profile of the client.
Ginge R said:
PhilboSE said:
The financial industry is self-serving first and foremost. I'd prefer other models of remuneration - say 20% of the gains, or even more if they shared the risk and paid me something back in the event of a loss...
Phil,Generalisations aside, would your idea not induce those self servers to take more risk with your money for larger remuneration - isn't that just one of the things that got us into this mess in the first place?
People chasing the best returns taking on risk and then moaning when it goes sour.
The problem has been exasperated by the prolonged very low interest rates.
The typical man in the street was content to receive say 5% return on his deposit in a bank to supplement his lifestyle but that has all changed now.
So he wants to achieve the same return annually but that seems impossible unless you take on more risk.
So where can he turn ,well it appears not to an IFA to guarantee an annual return,so he goes into BTLets ,now that bubble in London is finished for a decent return and if you go further afield other problems arise.
fandango_c said:
avinalarf said:
Tiggsy said:
avinalarf said:
He might have foreseen that the markets were unstable and suggested putting the majority of your capital into more suitable products .
And when he made that call, which would have gone against the opinion of most others at the time, and the market rose...would you want him to lose out then as well?You don't pay an adviser to second the guess the market for you - he puts you in the right place for you, acknowledging that there will be ups and downs on the path to your goal.
You can't penalise an adviser for a falling market any more than not pay a taxi fare if he runs into a traffic jam.
There are times when even a layman can see that certain markets are overpriced and that the usual cyclical correction might take place ,e.g. At the moment the property market in certain parts of the U.K. , investing in China .
Therefore I would expect an IFA to point out these anomalies to a client.
I would not expect an IFA to make the right call every time but would expect him to have a grasp of what was going on,otherwise anyone could call himself a Financial Advisor and just go with the flow.
However I have been told by Limpsfield and yourself that this is not the job of an IFA,and I can see that point,so maybe that is the case and I should calm down.
IFAs aren't can predict the future, it's not their job. If you choose to invest in risk assets, then you should accept the risk of returns being more or less than you expect.
If even a layman can see that "certain markets are overpriced and that the usual cyclical correction might take place" why haven't you made your fortune by now?
I have made a small fortune over the years ,mon ami.
Problem is I started with a large one.
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