Are St. James’s Place Funds Any Good

By: Sumeet_Manhas

Investing gives you the opportunity to grow your money over a period of several years. Whether you want to save for retirement or simply want to leave something behind for your children, every investor has a different time line and goal.

The funds that you invest in can have a tremendous impact on the fees you pay, long-term returns, and your overall financial success. While no investment firm can guarantee performance, over 900,000 investors trust their money with St. James’s Place to invest in funds managed by financial professionals.

But are these funds any good? Let’s look at whether SJP’s funds are worth investing in, as well as the company’s unique approach to long-term growth.

Are St. James’s Place Funds Any Good?

SJP’s Managed Funds Portfolio is designed for capital growth over a period of at least five years. It includes a mix of U.K., developed markets, and emerging markets stocks and shares. With managed funds, you get a broad spread of asset classes and investment managers, which can help to reduce risk. Since launch, SJP’s Managed Funds Portfolio has generated 5.21% in returns per year on average.

Up to 80% of SJP clients hold funds in a portfolio, a collection of different SJP funds. These portfolios are created either by SJP or one of its Partners. The benefit is that investors can immediately diversify where their money goes. This can reduce risk, potentially improve returns, and even make responsible investing (such as environmental, social, and governance, or ESG) a reality.

SJP works with external fund managers to spread investments across a range of funds. Although nothing is ever guaranteed, this approach can potentially shield you from natural fluctuations in the market.

While SJP and its Partners offer a wide range of portfolios to choose from, these are some of themost popular:

SJP’s Managed Funds Portfolio is designed for capital growth over a period of at least five years. It includes a mix of U.K., developed markets, and emerging markets stocks and shares. With managed funds, you get a broad spread of asset classes and investment managers, which can help to reduce risk. Since launch, SJP’s Managed Funds Portfolio has generated 5.21% in returns per year on average.

The SJP Adventurous Portfolio is designed for greater capital growth. There are a number of actively managed funds within this portfolio, which invests in developed and emerging market stocks and shares. This helps to ensure your money isn’t too concentrated in a single economy or market. Since it’s more “adventurous,” this fund does see sharper fluctuations in value. But since launch, it has returned 6.58% per year on average.

Half of the SJP Balanced Portfolio is in domestic, developed, and emerging market stocks and shares. The other half is in bonds and property in the U.K. Since its launch, the SJP Balanced Portfolio has returned 4.31% per year on average.

If you’re closer to retirement age or you prefer the reliability of steady returns, the SJP Conservative Portfolio may be a good fit for you. It has returned a modest 2.70% since its launch per year on average, but it tends to have less volatility because it doesn’t put money into traditional stocks or shares.

The SJP Strategic Growth Portfolio’s goal is capital growth. Most of its investments are in overseas developed and emerging markets. SJP works with a variety of fund managers, all with different investment styles, to mitigate risk in the strategic growth portfolio. The SJP Strategic Growth Portfolio has returned 2.21% since its launch per year on average

While SJP’s funds have a history of long-term performance, it’s important to note that all investments carry an element of uncertainty. Like many firms, SJP’s Partners endeavor to limit client risk, but you need to understand that there’s always the chance — regardless of where you invest and the funds you choose — that you will earn less than you invested.

How SJP Manages Its Funds

SJP enacts regular performance assessments, working with its fund managers to assess how funds have performed over the past five years. Instead of assessing funds based on short-term performance, SJP focuses on consistent, long-term performance.

The company works with its fund managers to assess funds based on four factors:

Has the fund achieved its objective? For example, if the goal of the fund is to achieve capital growth over a five-year period, SJP’s fund managers assess whether that actually happened.

How did the fund perform against its benchmarks? SJP reviews how its funds perform compared to industry benchmarks, which indicates how competitive the fund is compared to other options.

Is the fund’s risk profile managed appropriately? This measure looks at how well the assigned SJP fund manager took steps to minimize risk.

Has performance been delivered responsibly? SJP examines how well the fund managers evaluated ESG factors in their investment decisions.

ESG investments are also an option for prospective investors . If you want to make the world a better place while growing your money, SJP’s funds could be a good fit for you.

SJP calculates the carbon intensity of the companies it invests in and averages that number. It strives to emit less carbon than the industry benchmark, and several of SJP’s funds currently meet that goal. For example, the companies in the SJP global quality fund emit 93 tons of CO2. That’s much better than the benchmark for this fund, which is 163 tons of CO2. This gives SJP’s fund a lower carbon intensity than 50% of the MSCI All Countries World Index.

To date, SJP’s carbon intensity is already 25% lower than it was in 2019, so its focus on ESG is already creating positive change.

While SJP’s fund managers work to manage your money, their funds are just one piece of the puzzle. Fund selection alone won’t help you achieve your financial goals. That’s why your SJP Partner assesses your goals alongside the performance of the funds in your portfolio.

Whether you want to grow your money or generate income from the money you already have, your SJP Partner will review your account regularly. They’ll rebalance your portfolio as needed to help you reach your personal goals or adjust to changes in the market.

The Future With SJP Funds

The investment funds you choose matter a great deal. Where you invest your money can have a big impact on your expected returns and financial goals. This is why it’s so critical to choose a fund that aligns with your financial goals.

SJP funds are good, but their true differentiator is the access investors have to professional fund managers as well as SJP’s financial advisers.

While you’re free to balance your own portfolio with the funds of your choosing, it’s often best to work with experienced financial advisers to make the most of your financial opportunities.

By Sumeet Manhas

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Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

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