Discretionary and stockbroking services - Complaint policy

We are sorry you have cause to complain to St. James’s Place Investment Management Limited.

Our aim is to resolve any client concerns fairly, effectively and promptly.

St. James’s Place Investment Management Limited always aims to provide the highest standard of service to its clients but on occasions we may fall short of this goal leaving clients and potential clients dissatisfied.

When we receive any letter, fax, email, telephone call or personal communication which expresses dissatisfaction about services which we have provided or failed to provide, we will attempt to resolve the matter promptly and fairly. Consumers will also be able to tell us at any point that they don’t want to take their complaint any further.

Where possible, please include the following details with your complaint:

• Your full name, address, account reference and your telephone number to contact you on;
• A full description of your complaint and any details you can provide on what you feel would be appropriate in order to resolve your complaint, and;
• Any relevant documentation you wish us to consider as part of the complaint investigation

If complaining on behalf of another person, you must be authorised to do so and we reserve the right to contact the individual who you are complaining on behalf of to confirm.

How to make a complaint

You can refer your complaint to St. James’s Place Investment Management Limited via any form of communication, but where possible, please use the following contact details:

Address: Complaints, Administration Centre, PO Box 13197, Chelmsford, CM99 2GG.

Email: [email protected] Telephone: 0203 975 3971

Where possible, we will look to resolve the issue by close of business 3 days after receipt of your complaint and we will write to you confirming resolution. You still have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (details below) and/or the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service should you not be happy with the outcome.

Where it is not possible to resolve the issue within 3 business days, our Complaints department will complete an investigation.

If this applies, we aim to issue an acknowledgement to you within 5 business days, detailing our understanding of your concerns and confirming the next steps.

We will collate all the documentary evidence relevant to your complaint and, where applicable, ask for the comments of any individual involved. It may also be necessary for us to contact third parties for information. 

During the investigation

Once we have done this, we will review the evidence, make our assessment and let you know the outcome of our investigation in writing.

• If we are unable to resolve your complaint within 4 weeks of receipt, we will send you a letter explaining why we need more time to complete our investigation and let you know when to expect our response.
• If our investigation is going to take longer than 8 weeks, we will write to you again to explain why and let you know when we expect to be able to conclude matters. This letter will also inform you of your right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (see ‘Your Rights’ below), if applicable.

At the end of the investigation

When we have finished our investigation we will write to you with our full response to the concerns you raised.

Our final response will set out;

• the facts which have been established during the investigation; and
• any resolution to be offered.

This resolution will consider;

• Fair compensation for actual or potential financial loss;
• Any reasonable costs you have claimed;
• Lost interest which could have accrued since the date on which any possible loss was suffered; and
• Fair redress for any inconvenience or distress.

If you are not completely happy with the outcome and resolution of your compliant, you have additional rights to independent review or assistance.  These additional rights are set out below:

Financial Ombudsmen Service

You have the right to refer a complaint directly to the Financial Ombudsman Service if we have had an opportunity to consider it and have either:

• Supplied you with a final response; or
• 8 weeks have elapsed since we have received your complaint and a final response has not been issued.

More information on the Financial Ombudsmen Service can be found here: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk or you can contact them using the below details:

Address: The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR

Email: [email protected]

Telephone (from within the UK): 0800 023 4567

Telephone (from outside the UK): +44207 964 0500

We will also issue you with a leaflet providing these details with our formal responses to your complaint.

In line with current rules, you will have six months from the date of our final reply to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you remain unhappy with our response.

The Financial Ombudsman Service might not be able to consider your complaint if:

• What you are complaining about happened more than 6 years ago; and
• You are complaining more than three years after you realised (or should have realised) there was a problem.

If you do not refer your complaint in time, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances.  For example, if the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.

If you remain unhappy and do not agree with the Financial Ombudsman’s final decision, you are able to:

• Utilise an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) entity (this gives you access to an independent professional to review or assist with your complaint); or 
• Potentially able to take civil action.

More information on ADR can be found on the Citizens Advice website:

www.citizensadvice.org.uk