SJP's Investment Management Approach

As we live longer, it’s becoming increasingly important to plan for the life ahead of us. We know that everyone’s financial journey is different, which is why our approach to financial and investment planning is based on your unique goals. 

To understand your goals and provide peace of mind throughout your life, we will work with you in three different ways: 

PLAN: When aiming towards longer-term financial goals, such as a comfortable retirement, you’ll need a detailed plan. We’ll work together to agree a plan that works for you. 

DESIGN: After considering your time horizon and attitude to risk, we can design an investment portfolio to match the plan. 

REVIEW: Market conditions change. So can personal circumstances. We’ll keep a close eye on your investments monitor if they stay on track. 

Why we don't manage your investments in-house

We recognise that no single investment house has a monopoly on investment expertise, so we don’t employ in-house investment managers. Instead, we carefully select a number of external managers to manage our range of funds. 

This has a number of benefits: 

  • It gives us the freedom to choose from the best managers in the world 
  • It means we can change a manager at short notice if the need arises, without inconvenience to you 
  • It gives you a real opportunity to diversify your investments by spreading your money across funds managed by different managers with different styles. 

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select, and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested. 

Our Investment Committee

At the heart of the SJP Investment Management Approach is the Investment Committee.

  • Selecting the best investment managers 
  • Continually monitoring the managers to ensure they stay at the top of their game 
  • Changing managers when necessary 
  • Making sure you have the right spread of investments by providing a comprehensive range of funds and Model Portfolios. 

We believe our investment process gives you the best chance of achieving high returns in the medium- to long-term. 

Helping our Investment Committee are our in-house team of analysts and independent consultants. They have been carefully chosen to bring their individual expertise to the selection and monitoring process. They also collaborate on investment strategy and the development of our fund range. 

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select, and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested. 

Our consultants

Finding and monitoring the best investment talent requires specialist knowledge, detailed analysis, and a lot of legwork. So, our Investment Management team works with a number of independent investment consultancy firms. Their independence means they are completely objective when researching and reviewing your investments. 

In the same way as our fund managers, each of the consultants is engaged on the strength of their skills, knowledge, and experience. 

Access to this kind of expertise is normally limited to large institutional or overseas investors. It’s just one part of a rigorous and distinctive process to reassure you that your money is in good hands. 

Our investment consultants play a vital role in selecting and monitoring fund managers, as well as assisting the Investment Management team with investment strategy and the development of our fund range.  

This forms a part of our plan, design, review process, helping our Partners design best-in-class investment solutions to meet your long-term goals. 

Our investment consultants include: 

Redington: Now a team of 196, including 111 investment professionals, with a combined total of over 400 years’ investment consulting, actuarial, capital markets and asset management experience. 

bfinance: Established in 1999, bfinance has worked for more than 380 institutional clients across 38 countries, operating out of nine international offices. The firm has been recognised with numerous industry awards for innovation and investment consultancy. 

MICAP: Founded in 2013 and specialising in the alternatives market, MICAP provides us with high-quality independent due diligence, research tools and panel support services on the tax-advantaged investment space. 

MJ Hudson Allenbridge: Founded in 1984, its team has grown to 125 professionals working throughout Europe and advising more than £700 billion of assets. 

Ortec Finance: The firm now services 500+ clients, across seven global locations, with combined assets in excess of €3 trillion euros. It provides us with advisory and monitoring services for the effective construction of our diverse Portfolio offerings. 

eVestment: Founded in 2000, eVestment offers a range of Cloud-based subscription services for institutional investors and consultants. 

Inalytics: Founded in 1998, over the past 20 years Inalytics has analysed over $7tn of assets on more than 150 million investment decisions. 

SJP's global approach to fund managers

Key to the distinctive approach is the ability to identify and select fund managers from around the world. Contracting out fund management gives greater freedom and the flexibility to source investment expertise on a global scale, giving you diversification and investment expertise that is beyond the scope of many wealth advisers. 

The map opposite indicates fund managers whose strategies are exclusive to you. 

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and may go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested. 

Responsible investing

Responsible investing is about using money as a force for good. 

When you invest with us, you’re helping to create a better future for all, by influencing the strategy and direction of companies to evolve into better versions of themselves.  

When our fund managers put responsible investing into practice, they focus on three factors: environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG). Put simply, people, planet, and fair play. They use these to assess how companies behave and manage their impact on the world. 

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select, and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested. 

When putting responsible investing into practice, fund managers – the people that manage St. James's Place funds – focus on three factors: environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG). Put simply, people, planet and fair play. These factors are used to assess how companies behave and manage their impact on the world.

A world worth living in

Becoming financially secure is a dream for many of us. But it’s only worthwhile if we have a healthy and sustainable world in which to enjoy that security. Climate change is one of the biggest issues facing society today by far. Tackling this requires action from all sectors and industries, as well as governments, international bodies, and communities. As one of the UK's largest wealth managers, we want our responsibilities and standards to be reflected by our external fund managers.  

SJP joined the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) in 2020, making a public commitment that all their investment portfolios will be carbon neutral by 2050. The NZAOA uses the collective voice of more than $7 trillion of assets to encourage large companies to reduce their carbon emissions.  

To ensure company stakeholders – customers, communities, shareholders, and suppliers – are aware of climate-related challenges, firms are being encouraged to disclose this. In 2015 the Financial Stability Board established The Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to provide a framework for firms to follow when disclosing their climate-related risks. We became signatories of TCFD in 2019 and earlier this year we produced our own TCFD report

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select, and the value can therefore go down as well as up.  You may get back less than you invested. 

More information

St. James's Place is a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI).  Find out more and see how our Portfolios are managed in accordance with the PRI. 

Find an adviser

Our experienced advisers offer professional, tailored, face-to-face advice based on your current circumstances and future aspirations. Start your journey now and find a St. James's Place Partner in your local area.