Company: St. James’s Place, Cirencester. Gloucestershire
Company Description: St. James’s Place is one of the UK’s largest, advice-led wealth management companies, responsible for advising >900,000 clients on their investments and all aspects of financial services through its Partnership – a network of over 4,600 qualified expert advisers.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Achievement in Customer Experience
 Nomination Title: SJP – Giving clients the confidence to create the futures they want
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 52 words used.
The attached PDF contains:
Appendix 1: How we understand customer needs
Appendix 2: Our sector-leading vulnerable customer programme
Appendix 3: Investment in Learning & Development to help Partners better support clients
Appendix 4: Innovative technology to empower Partners and clients
Appendix 5: Our financial wellbeing and education initiatives
Appendix 6: Client testimonials
- Briefly describe the nominated organization: its history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 200 words used.
Ask someone to picture a financial adviser and they may well imagine someone in a suit who’s good with numbers. At SJP, we recognise that, in fact, a good financial adviser is often a counsellor, coach, confidante, as well as trusted adviser.
As the UK’s largest, advice-led wealth management company, we advise >900,000 clients on all aspects of financial services through our network of >4,600 qualified expert advisers (our ‘Partners’). Our Partners do more than help clients’ money grow, they help clients navigate life’s twists and turns, including redundancy/divorce/ill-health/bereavement and more.
We enable this through our unique ‘best-of-both’ business model, in which Partners are self-employed and fully autonomous, but have SJP’s backing (including training/support/administration/onboarding/governance/tools, etc.), freeing them to focus on service and building personal, long-term relationships.
This ability to afford clients the necessary time/skills/expertise, has enabled us to hand-hold them through some of the most turbulent market conditions in our thirty-year history. Consequently, despite unprecedented volatility, funds under management have hit an all-time high of £179bn and client numbers reached >980,000. However, the ultimate litmus test is our impact on clients: in the words of one client “the advice has been nothing short of lifechanging.”
*SJP client-June-2023-TrustPilot
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the nominated achievement since July 1, 2021, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- Outline the nominated achievement since July 1 2021 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 242 words used.
Never has the need for financial advice been greater: longer lives, a widening gender savings gap, market volatility, rising living costs and spiralling debt (UK household debt hit £2trillion for the first time**), are all putting our clients (and non-clients) – regardless of age or assets – under strain. We’ve stepped up to hand-hold people through these challenges by:
- Understanding client needs: Our pioneering research combined with our 2500-strong client community (an independently moderated feedback forum) helps us/Partners understand and meet client needs. Appendix-1.
- Sector-leading vulnerable customer programme (e.g. pioneering VR training to help Partners spot vulnerability – the training is now being offered to the wider industry). Appendix-2.
- >£1m in Learning & Development to give Partners the hard/soft skills to support clients (appendix-3) and events/online platforms to share best practice.
- Technology to empower Partners/clients, including AI to speed up administration/reporting and powerful new client app, giving clients greater insight/control (>25% of users log in daily). Appendix-4.
- Financial wellbeing/education programmes to help clients (and non-clients) make informed choices (appendix-5), including podcasts on how to build financial resilience.
- Increasing transparency/accessibility, including simplifying and splitting charges into three areas (advice/product/investment management), enabling clients to quickly/easily compare charges against the market/make informed choices, and publishing independent assessments of the value we provide.
Consequently, 91% of our people agree ‘the fair treatment of clients is central to our culture’ and clients rate their Partner 8.9/10 on average.
** https://www.pwc.co.uk/press-room/press-releases/household-debt-tops-p2-trillion-for-the-first-time-as-new-data-s.html
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below.
- Explain why the achievement you have highlighted is unique or significant. If possible compare the achievement to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 249 words used.
Ensuring long-term consistent service
Despite a UK-wide shortage of advisers***, we’ve successfully grown our Partnership/talent pipeline, ensuring we can service clients now and in the future. E.g. through our Academies, we’ve increased our Partnership from 4693 to 4766 in the last 12-months and now have the largest community of chartered advisers in the UK (>1000).
Delighting clients
Our 2023 independent Value Assessment Statement shows we’re third lowest for fees vs 19 firms offering comparable services, and a survey of 1400+ clients reveals:
- 87% feel our products/services give good value for money.
- Satisfaction with Partner: 8.9/10.
- 80% feel valued as a client.
- 83% have confidence in achieving their objectives.
- Overall satisfaction: 8.4/10.
- VouchedFor rating: 4.9/5.
- +44 Net Promoter Score (and 40% of new business comes through referral).
What clients say….
“SJP is wonderful. I feel like someone who cares is always at the other end of a phone. It’s comforting knowing that someone who knows what they're doing is looking after our future.” Mrs M.D (Trustpilot:Feb-2023).
“The advice and support I’ve had from my client manager at FLM, part of the St. James’s family, has been nothing short of lifechanging for myself and my family.” Dennis (Trustpilot:June-2023).
More: appendix-6.
Supporting sustainable growth
Empowering Partners to deliver exceptional care has not only delivered high client satisfaction, but business growth: 2023 saw a 13.5% increase in funds under management (Dec-2023, £148bn Dec-2022), and net inflows of £5.12bn.
***https://www.ftadviser.com/opinion/2022/04/27/the-lack-of-young-advisers-is-not-surprising/
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