St James’s Place mulling fee changes after consumer duty compliance scrutiny

Financial services firm St. James’s Place PLC (LON:SJP) has confirmed it is assessing its fee structure to comply with the UK’s new consumer duty.

Responding to media speculation that this could entail an overhaul of how it charges customers, the FTSE 100-listed group said on Friday that work was ongoing.

“We continue to build on the work completed for consumer duty,” the group said in a statement.

“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.”

According to the Financial Times, early withdrawal charges for new customers could be removed by 2025, while charges for advisory and administrative services could be simplified.

St James’s Place, which is the UK’s largest wealth manager, has faced regulatory scrutiny over whether its fee structure complies with the new consumer duty rules.

These are being introduced between July 2023 and 2024 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and aim to ensure UK companies act in the best interests of customers.

“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,” St James’s added.

“We naturally continue to engage with all of our primary regulators during this process.”

St James’s Place shares have taken a hit since July, falling 30%, after initial changes were made to its fee structure in response to the new rules.