The lawyer, who advised the UK government during the financial crisis, looks set to lead the Financial Conduct Authority, St James’ Place new chief executive started settling in at the adviser and private client lawyers Penningtons Manches appoints a trio to its offices.
Continuing to provide defined benefit pension transfer advice to members of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) could put St James’s Place “outside its risk appetite”, the firm said.
St James’s Place appoints senior adviser in Asia, 7IM sacks its chief investment officer and Deutsche Bank adds two wealth management teams for Asia push.
Old Mutual Wealth claims a period of rapid growth means it is now the UK’s second largest advice business and only major competitor to St. James’s Place.
St James’s Place confirmed it is preparing to launch two funds this November, as it reported net inflows totalled more than £2bn in the third quarter.
St James’ Place is the most complained about adviser for the first half of 2017 according to the Financial Conduct Authority.
An appointed representative of St James’s Place has been jailed for 40 months after being found guilty of stealing and losing £844,010 ($1.1m, €940,707) from eight clients over a period of three years.
Pension rules are still a murky area in the eyes of savers and tax allowances continue to be a mystery for many people, warns Ian Price, divisional director for pensions at St James’s Place.
The UK’s Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) received 22% more new complaints against St James’s Place in 1H17 compared with 2H16 and, despite a drop in the number of complaints against Sesame, the network remained the most complained about advice provider.
Former Friends Provident International Singapore managing director Chris Gill has joined St James’s Place Wealth Management Asia as development director to the international business.
A report by Bestinvest has named and shamed Aberdeen Asset Management and St James’s Place for running some of the worst-performing equity ‘dog’ funds.
Adviser numbers continue to rise at St James’s Place, as funds under management hit £83bn ($108.3bn, €92.9bn) and it revealed plans to launch a growth fund in another sign that it will take more than negative headlines to dent the firm’s market share.
