SJP About your investments with us
We’re committed to helping you achieve your financial goals. Whether you’re planning for retirement, saving for education, or building wealth, our resources are here to support you every step of the way.
This page is designed to enhance your understanding and support your investment journey, helping you plan for the future with confidence and peace of mind.
We’ll regularly update the page with information about actions we’re taking on our funds, our latest analysis, and educational resources on key investment concepts.
Actions we've recently taken on our funds:
SJP Property funds update - 27 November 2024
Winding down the Property Unit Trust & removing the Property Life and Pension fund options
We suspended trading in the SJP Property Unit Trust and started deferring withdrawals and switch-out transactions in the Life and Pension Property funds in October 2023. This was because the funds were experiencing significant withdrawals which we couldn’t meet without selling property assets at a substantial discount to fair market value.
A year later, we believe that reopening the Property Unit Trust and resuming transactions in the Life and Pension Property funds would still result in significant withdrawal requests. This would quickly exhaust the cash levels that have built up in the funds over the past year, meaning that the Property Unit Trust would need to be suspended again, and we might be unable to meet deferred transactions for the Life and Pension Property funds within six months.
In recent years, investor sentiment towards property funds has fallen for two key reasons:
- Investors have become increasingly cautious about property funds due to the significant change in working patterns following the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the rise of remote working has reduced demand for office space.
- Proposed regulatory changes could result in the introduction of notice periods for other types of funds holding assets that can take a while to sell, such as property. This has deterred investors who value flexibility and quick access to their money.
While the suspension and deferred transactions have protected clients’ investments, the underlying and market-wide challenges experienced by property funds remain. Given this ongoing situation, we have decided to wind down the Property Unit Trust and remove the Property Life and Pension fund options.
Further information, including the answers to frequently asked questions, can be found below.
SJP’s Head of Real Assets, Pippa Jenman, and Director of Portfolio Management, Robin Ellis, discuss the factors that underpin the decline in investor sentiment towards commercial property funds.
Your questions answered
Last updated 17 March 2025.
A Unit Trust and a Life or Pension policy are different types of investment. While the terminology therefore differs as well, the outcome of winding down the Unit Trust and removing the Life and Pension fund options is the same: new investment will no longer be possible. We will be selling the property assets and distributing the proceeds to existing investors.
Unit Trust and ISA investors: During the wind down, we will make capital distributions. The first of these distributions was in December 2024, amounting to approximately a quarter of the value of investors' holding in the fund. The second distribution was made on 15 March 2025, with clients being notified shortly afterwards.
Life and Pension investors: During the wind down period, as we sell the properties, we will periodically release capital into your Retirement Account, Investment Bond, or Trustee Investment Account. We will write to you each time a release of capital is made.
Yes, investors holding income units in the Property funds will continue to receive income distributions during the wind down. These will occur per the usual frequency:
- Property Unit Trust (or via an ISA) – quarterly
- Property Life fund – quarterly
- Property Pension fund – monthly
An income distribution is treated separately from a release of capital/capital distribution. The value of the income distributions will reduce as the assets in each of the funds are sold and the amount of rental income reduces accordingly.
We will not be producing fund factsheets for any of the Property funds.
However, we will continue to publish daily prices for the Property funds here. The value of any investments investors have in the Property fund will continue to appear in their Annual and Quarterly Wealth Reports, and the SJP App.
The decision to wind down the Property Unit Trust and remove the Property Life and Pension fund options reflects the challenges facing open-ended, daily priced property funds more broadly. This is not a reflection of the overall performance and stability of our fund range. These are circumstances specific only to the Property funds.
Yes, the business remains strong. The winding down of the Property Unit Trust and removal of the Property Life and Pension fund options does not reflect any vulnerability in SJP’s operations or business model.
Commercial property takes longer to sell than other assets, such as equities and bonds. Buyers need time to conduct detailed property evaluations, including on-site inspections, various surveys and complex legal procedures.
Based on our assessment of the current market and the asset profile within the funds, we believe the sale of properties will take around two years to complete. This is to ensure the manager has sufficient time to prepare the assets for market, and to allow adequate time to run a competitive sales process to ensure best value is achieved for clients. However, this timescale is subject to the broader economic backdrop and factors affecting commercial property and may be subject to revision.
No, each of the funds is invested across a different range of properties. These assets will have to be marketed and sold separately, and therefore each fund will be wound down or removed according to the pace of these sales.
There are sales costs associated with selling properties. These will continue to be borne by the funds.
The decision to wind down the Property Unit Trust and remove the Property Life and Pension fund options is not a result of the management but due to the wider challenges faced by the industry. SJP have taken the proactive decision to appoint Invesco Real Estate to manage the wind down of the funds and sell the property assets.
We expect Invesco to be appointed by the end of May 2025. There will be no additional costs incurred by clients for changing the manager. The cost of making the change will be borne in full by us, and Invesco will be incentivised to sell the properties for the best value in a timely manner.
There will be no change to the charges of the Property fund when Invesco is appointed.
About Invesco Real Estate
Invesco Real Estate is the global real estate business of Invesco Asset Management Limited with £ 68.3 billion in real estate assets under management, 607 employees and 21 regional offices across the US, Europe and Asia. Invesco Real Estate has a 40-year investment history and has been actively investing across the risk-return spectrum, from core to opportunistic, in equity and debt real estate strategies, and in direct and listed real estate for its c.400 institutional client relationships during this time. In Europe, Invesco Real Estate has eight offices in London, Munich, Milan, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Luxembourg and Warsaw, and 193 employees. It manages 206 assets across 14 European countries and with assets under management of £12.9 billion. The team has a strong track record across all the commercial sectors, hotels and residential sectors.
Source: Invesco Real Estate as of 31 March 2024.
If you are invested in the SJP Property funds and have any further queries, please speak to your SJP Partner. If you are no longer taking advice, you can contact us directly.
The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and may fall as well as rise. You may get back less than the amount invested.
SJP Sustainable & Responsible Equity fund - from 24 February 2025
From 24 February 2025, the SJP Sustainable & Responsible Equity fund will have a new manager and incorporate a more balanced blend of investment styles.
The changes are intended to improve diversification and further enhance the fund’s focus on sustainability. The latter will enable it to meet the Financial Conduct Authority's new higher threshold for sustainable investments and achieve a “sustainability focus” label.
- The fund’s objective, policy and strategy will change to enhance its focus on sustainable investments.
- Schroder Investment Management (Schroders) will replace Impax Asset Management as the fund manager.
- The number of underlying companies invested in will increase.
What’s a sustainability focus label?
The Sustainable & Responsible Equity fund will have a sustainability focus label. This means it aims to invest in companies that are environmentally and/or socially sustainable.
The Financial Conduct Authority has introduced a new labelling system – like a quality mark – for sustainable investment funds. To call a fund ‘sustainable’, tough new criteria need to be met.
Funds with the label must be able to evidence their investments meet a certain standard to be deemed environmentally and/or socially sustainable, which previously hasn’t been a requirement.
Manager changes to three SJP funds - from 24 February 2025
From 24 February 2025, we're appointing new managers to the SJP Global Smaller Companies, Strategic Managed, and UK funds.
SJP Global Smaller Companies fund
The appointment of six new managers – EdgePoint Investment Group, Kabouter Management, Kopernik Global Investors, LSV Asset Management, MAC Alpha Capital, and Select Equity Group – will introduce a multi-manager approach to this fund. The six managers will work alongside the existing manager, Northern Trust. Each will be responsible for managing a portion of the fund.
SJP Strategic Managed fund
We are changing the fund's manager from Colombia Threadneedle to Royal London Asset Management.
The fund, while still actively managed, will invest in more index or passive strategies. This approach will be more cost-effective, and the prevailing economic and investment backdrop will have a greater influence on the opportunities the manager seeks.
SJP UK fund
We are removing Colombia Threadneedle as a manager on the UK fund. This fund uses a multi-manager approach and the other managers - BlackRock, Schroders, Baillie Gifford, LA Capital, RWC - remain in place.
Our latest news and insights:
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If you are an SJP client and would like to request further information about any investment topics not covered above, please contact your SJP adviser in the first instance. Alternatively, if you don’t have an SJP adviser, please get in touch with us directly.
If you've come across an investment term you don't recognise, you may like to visit our Jargon buster where we've provided explanations of frequently used terms.
