I remember when I was in the game of building a business as a self-employed adviser working for SJP’s predecessor (Hambro and then Allied Dunbar). Coincidentally, insurance has moved on a long way in most respects (see Gordon Aitken for how)

Nowadays, the financial adviser/sales person has been banished from the spreadsheets of the institutional  insurers who buy out pensions and get bought out by American finance houses.

But their are still retail insurers who operate to serve the wealthy and manager their wealth. St James Place are the biggest but there are others and the old model of franchisees running businesses under the permissions granted them by the FCA through their insurer persist.

Emma Dunkley tells a tale of frustration from former SJP franchisees who have left without the embedded value of their time within SJP. I can dimly remember losing my client bank in 1988 when I went to be an IFA. It is not nice but the problem remains the same, the clients contract their money with the insurance company not with you.

Emma Dunkley is keen to explain both sides of the complaint. Insurers will not keep advisers on their books if they do no business and advisers will move on if they want to upgrade their product set by being independent.

The success of SJP since it reached its nadir in 2023 is startling. Here’s the FT again

The wealth manager was forced to overhaul its charging structure in 2023 in the wake of the introduction of the consumer duty, which was aimed at ensuring financial services customers get a fair deal. SJP was also forced to set aside £426mn the following year because of an increase in complaints from customers who claimed they had not received sufficient financial advice. The company has since clawed back some of this pot. Its shares more than tripled from a low of £4.15 in April 2024 to £15.20 this January, but have since fallen back to trade about £12 a share.

I have always stood up for SJP since I didn’t join them when I left Allied Dunbar. I will again. They are a well run business that give the wealthy some comfort in their wealth management. Quilter and others are giving it competition which is good, but we should not ignore SJP’s longevity, it has become a fixture of our stock market and a British insurer to be proud of.

At a time when so many insurers we call British are being sold overseas, we should stick with SJP. I instinctively side with the insurer in its battle with agents who have moved on.