Partially upheld: failure to provide annual suitability reviews; inadequate documentation of ongoing advice complaint against St. James's Place Wealth Management Plc
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-6270592 of 2026-05-29T00:00:00+00:00. failure to provide annual suitability reviews; inadequate documentation of ongoing advice complaint against St. James's Place Wealth Management Plc. Outcome: Partially upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-6270592 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2026-05-29T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | St. James's Place Wealth Management Plc |
| Product | pension |
| Claim type | failure to provide annual suitability reviews; inadequate documentation of ongoing advice |
| Outcome | Partially upheld |
| Remedy | SJP must repay the adviser's fees for 2017 and 2020 together with simple interest at 8% per annum from the date the fees were paid to the date of settlement. SJP must provide details of the calculation to Mr F in a clear, simple format. SJP must pay Mr F the £150 trouble and upset payment already offered. If SJP considers income tax deduction is required by HM Revenue & Customs, it must inform Mr F of the amount deducted and provide a tax deduction certificate if requested. |
Summary
Mr F complained about pension transfer advice received from St. James's Place Wealth Management Plc in 2014, alleging it was unsuitable and exposed him to excessive risk, and also complained about missing annual suitability reviews and an Early Withdrawal Charge of £2,053.03 when he transferred away in November 2021. The ombudsman found the initial 2014 transfer advice was suitable and the Early Withdrawal Charges were clearly disclosed, so these complaints were not upheld. However, the ombudsman upheld the complaint regarding missed annual suitability reviews in 2017 and 2020, finding that while the September 2017 letter addressed a pension top-up, it did not constitute a proper annual suitability review as it failed to specifically document a review of the existing plan's performance and whether the risk level remained appropriate. The ombudsman directed SJP to refund the adviser's fees for 2017 and 2020 with 8% simple interest, plus £150 for trouble and upset.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
The ombudsman upheld the complaint regarding missed annual suitability reviews in 2017 and 2020. On the timeliness issue, the ombudsman found that Mr F could not reasonably have known in 2017 that he had not received a proper annual suitability review, given that he was in regular contact with SJP and the September 2017 meeting for a pension top-up occurred around the time an annual review should have happened. The ombudsman noted that Mr F was not a financial adviser and could not be expected to know what a review should encompass or to compare it to the 2016 review. Therefore, the complaint was brought within the required timescales. On the merits, the ombudsman found that while the September 2017 letter discussed Mr F's objectives and confirmed his circumstances had not changed materially, it did not specifically document a review of the existing plan, its performance over the past year, or whether the risk level still suited Mr F. These are aspects that an annual suitability review should cover, and the ombudsman expected such a review to be clearly documented. The ombudsman was not satisfied that the review of Mr F's existing investment in 2017, including its suitability against his needs and objectives, took place. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaints regarding the suitability of the initial 2014 advice or the Early Withdrawal Charges, as these had been clearly disclosed and the advice was suitable for Mr F's stated objectives.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| St. James's Place Wealth Management Plc, all decisions | 683 | 26% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website