St James’s Place shares tanked on Friday on reports the regulator was unhappy with their efforts to make their charging structure fairer for clients and were set to change their fee structure.
St James’s Place shares were down 15% at the time of writing on Friday.
St James’s Place’s complex charging structures are facing further scrutiny following the introduction of the Consumer Duty earlier this year. Many argue St James’s Place’s fee structure is unclear and penalises clients for exiting early.
Consumer Duty required firms to assess their practises and place their customers at the centre of their business decisions. St James’s Place has been under fire for unfair charges for some time and the pressure ramped up this year leading to sharp declines in their share price.
In a statement released on Friday, St James’s Place said:
“As disclosed in our Half-Year Report & Accounts published on 27 July 2023, we continue to build on the work completed for Consumer Duty. This programme includes an assessment of our fees and charging models to ensure we operate with a simple and scalable charging platform for the long term.”
“Whilst the evaluation has not yet been completed and therefore no decision has been made, we are confident that all the options under consideration will ensure value for clients and a strong, secure, and sustainable business for all stakeholders. We naturally continue to engage with all of our primary regulators during this process.”
