Recently there have been a number of ads on various social media channels by a law firm trying to garner complaints about St James Place as they have set aside an enormous sum of money for potential complaints. This same law firm has also been making some spurious comments about some other companies including Quilter Wealth Management and we have been contacted by a few clients asking if their money is safe.
SWP are an independent firm for a reason. We strongly believe that being Independent allows us to offer our clients the widest possible choice of the market and therefore the best solution for your needs. We constantly review and research the companies on our panels to ensure that they are fit for purpose and match the needs of our clients.
In our league tables of platforms, Quilter are second in terms of the assets held coming in at over £100M of client assets across the MPA group.
They have 500,000 customers worldwide and as at March 2024 held £111.6 billon of client assets in their investments and on their platform. They are listed on the FTSE 250 stock exchange and also listed on the Johannesburg stock exchange. They are one of the largest platforms in the UK and we have been dealing with them for 30 years.
We have no doubts that they are a financially sound company and you have nothing to worry about if we recommend them as a platform provider for your investments.
One of the problems with our industry at the moment is that the legal firm trying to drum up complaints do so knowing that its costs them nothing other than time to file a complaint to an Independent firm like ours. They charge 40% of any ‘compensation’ they get and they destroy the relationship between the adviser and the client. The ones I have seen so far have no detail to them other than a bland statement that the client has been disadvantaged.
If you have a legitimate complaint then put that in writing to us and we will deal with it on its merits. If you are not happy with the response then you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) which is an independent organisation that will try and resolve the complaint. If you win and your complaint is upheld you will receive 100% of the compensation due.
If you have any issues with the services you have received from SWP then in the first instance contact your adviser and discuss it first. If you don’t feel comfortable with that then contact me direct at p.mcgovern@mpafm.co.uk or on 01564 795997.
Many thanks
Phil J McGovern FPFS
Managing Director
