Choose a discretionary charging structure that harmed the client’s finances to pay my adviser  more money – no thank you! I’ll wait till the end of the month to transact,

I’m sure I would, but I’m not sure I’d invest with SJP in the first place. If I wanted a transactional high quality of the type SJP offer I’d put the money with Pension Bee.  Is that statement “advice” – maybe.  Actually I think there is a place for both SJP and Pension Bee (and they pleasingly rhyme).

I wouldn’t use SJP – that is – unless I needed advice – in which case SJP seem a decent option – under the new charging structure coming in at the end of the month, It’s actually 26th August that it all comes in.

The problem is that SJP are looking a lot less naughty in the post 26th world and this is clearly winding up some rivals.  I think that Gina Miller has the FT’s Emma Dunkley on speed dial, complaining that the reductions in fees for SJP investments don’t fall unto the end of August, with great hazard..

Some industry analysts have warned that SJP advisers, who currently receive an initial advice fee of up to 4.5 per cent, have a greater incentive to sell more of these products before the new charges come into effect and when their maximum initial fee drops to 3 per cent.

This does seem to make sense if you are a car finance salesman (unless you get caught out by the FCA)  but it looks a difficult thing to do if you are a financial adviser, which is supposed to be different.

I don’t see any evidence of car finance selling tactics in operation at SJP – I don’t think we will. I used to be a car finance salesman kind of adviser so I know.

My argument when my clients used to come up with excuses for putting off investment was that you can never get the market right and there’s no time like the present. I would use this argument if I was an SJP salesman if I thought the only downside to investing now was my commission.

The trouble is that with the new commission system in September, there are going to be better conditions for the investor- easier to get out etc.. I’ve written about this after speaking with SJP and am pretty sure that a better deal is waiting if you wait.

So there are two things that go for waiting; firstly that the FCA can check all investments made as the last under the old charge scheme; secondly that to make my relationship with my client work, I ought to avoid putting pressure on him/her to make me more money through an opaque charging system.  I make this second point despite my expectation that many clients would moan, but because successful advisory businesses work best when the balance of goodwill is with the client.

The problem with this FT piece is that it has a lot of SJP rivals, Gina Miller being the most forthright, arguing about a practice that no one has got evidence of. Apparently  the  SJP advisers have been trained on the old and new system, have comparisons to show customers which presumably end “so would you like the more expensive charging structure?” and all are aware that all the advisers who don’t work for SJP have got a speed dial arrangement with all the journalists , ready to report any car finance tactics.

And this last point is the most important, most SJP advisors really don’t want to be reckoned car finance salesmen – operating discretionary charging structures –  I mean – would you?