One of the leading wealth management firms in Britain, St James’s Place, has recognized its failure to deliver value for money in the performance evaluation of 36 out of 45 of its investment funds.

Managing the financial assets of over one million affluent families, St James’s Place disclosed these shortcomings in a recently released value assessment report.

The evaluation found that the most significant issue lay in fund performance; however, the company also faced challenges in other areas such as fund charges, service quality, and competitive comparisons. Ultimately, 13 of its funds were assessed as not providing adequate value to their customers.

Since 2019, fund managers in the UK have been mandated to conduct annual value assessments for their funds as per regulations aimed at enhancing investor outcomes.

The latest findings, as of March 31, did not fully incorporate recent reforms implemented by St James’s Place, although the company suggested an improvement compared to the previous year. “The share of funds providing value for money increased from 60% in 2023 to 70% in 2024,” stated Tom Beal, the group’s investment director.

Beal noted that assessing value for money is particularly challenging for the wealth management firm because individual advisory costs are included in a single fund charge.

St James’s Place was recently highlighted for having some of the poorest-performing funds in the UK according to Bestinvest’s Spot the Dog report.

Based in Cirencester and part of the FTSE 250, St James’s Place utilizes a network of over 4,000 self-employed financial advisers to market its exclusive funds. In July, the company reported net inflows of £1.9 billion, raising total assets under management to £181.9 billion.

Sheila Nicoll, chair of the St James’s Place unit trust group board overseeing the assessment process, commented, “There are no quick solutions for areas identified as lacking value or needing enhancement. Changes initiated last year, including alterations in management and fee reductions, require time to manifest in the results. However, we must acknowledge their ongoing impact within this assessment period, as St James’s Place takes proactive measures to rectify these issues.”

Following the announcement, shares in St James’s Place increased by 7p, or 1%, reaching a price of 739p.