SJP makes repeated calls to IFA offering free financial plan

Why am I not surprised?

Should we be surprised by SJP's tactics ? Not if we are long enough in the tooth to remember its parenthood in Allied Dunbar/ Hambro Life. SJP are also targetting IFAs looking to retire by offering to take over their practices. SJP still seem to exhibit some of the more dubious practices which our ultra-regulated world was supposed to have outlawed.

Hardly 'stop the press' news Citywire... quiet month?

A couple of months ago i received a letter addressed to myself c/o my works address from SJP. This letter went on to explain how good SJP are and how many IFA's were moving over to them and that with this in mind, they will be contacting me in the coming weeks.

They did indeed call me twice, both times i was on my phone so when admin offered to take a message or number, all that the guy would leave was his name (his number was witheld).

I am just thankful that my relationship with my employer is such that they were not concerned by my being contacted with a view to leaving as they know that i was not looking elsewhere. This is not a very good method to increasing sales-person numbers in my book, and not very nice to give up calling after only two calls, without leaving any means for me to contact him.

Looks like their recruitment tactics are as bad as their client approach tactics.

RDR plays right into their hands, hence the silence?

I had a letter from SJP and then eight (8!) follow up calls from some grommet at SJP giving me the "private mobile" of a Mr Lee Perks and specific times of day that I could get hold of him. Jokers

@andypne

Wow - Lee Perks. An ex-Inter-Alliance Holborn adviser...Is he still alive then?

SJP regularly strike me as the Foxtons of financial advice. Nice shiny offices, impressive brochures, but rather alarming sales techniques.

Really, what is the fuss?

I am a 'whole of market adviser' but do believe you cannot knock their marketing. Other tactics such as how they really operate such as whether they are a multi tie and/or manufacturer perhaps it is a different story.

Interestingly when someone joins SJP say from an IFA background their existing business goes to Policy Servicing ( I think) who deal with this existing Business including further advice etc. Just wonder how this works in practice?

Is the advice provided to such clients - restricted, full review, execution only or insistent client?? Perhaps a combination?

Anon 1 15:16

Existing business goes to their very own IFA somewhere in Scotland. The renewals are collected and managed there. When a policy event happens, such as an indexation, maturity or penalty free encashment date arrives the policy info is passed down to the sales people. You can guess what happens next.

We have a local IFA turned SJP.

Interesting comment about existing business, having taken over 3 clients of the firm it seems that the common way of dealing with existing business it to rebroke with a 'new and improved' product from the suite offered by SJP. One guy had been sold 5 different personal pensions all with different providers (why not top up the first which was possible we checked!) which should now all be amalgamated because the new product is SO MUCH BETTER???!!!

I can only assume that this is a strange 'twilight zone' type phenomenon as it was experienced by all 3 'moving' clients, how moved to a new IFA as they found the tactics 'interesting'

As my mother would 'say young and yet so cynical'!!

Here is one for the FSA's TCF team!

Or, as in the case currently in the news, the SJP salesman also owns an IFA so that he can collect the renewals himself. I know a former SJP admin person and have been told that since they are mostly one man limited's they have their own agencies with most insurance co's and therefore keep the policies themselves but this is outwith SJP so any advice is 'off the SJP record' until the 'new and much better SJP product' is recommended.

A simple thing that would worry me is that the term 'Partner' is always used, yet this applies to someone who is normally employed by a third-party one man limited company which is nothing to do with SJP except that it sells SJP products. There is far too much room for advice to be hidden, should the adviser wish to for any reason. Are clients told that the salesman actually works for this third-party?