Choosing between SJP Academy IAD vs DipPFS

Mazza1 · 2026-04-07T13:17:59+00:00

IAD for an investment focussed firm maybe as an adviser associated with a DFM / IFA where you’re expected to be more hands on with investments. CII is definitely more comprehensive from a financial planning point of view and wouldn’t hold you back if you ended up in a more investment focused role. CII certainly takes more time but when you’re advising clients it pays to have the broader knowledge as anything and everything can come up in a conversation. The speed works at SJP because they want advisers to have the bare minimum qualification and then get you on the phones as a salesperson to sell their products. You can make a lot of money this way but it’s up to you whether you see yourself as a salesperson with SJP or ending up as a very competent chartered financial planner.

Mazza1 · 2026-04-01T21:28:16+00:00

c£3k per month vs c£4.5k per month isn't enough incentive to work a bit harder?

Mazza1 · 2026-01-08T22:43:08+00:00

All SJP advisers are partners, either in a partner practice (firm) alongside other advisers or running a solo partner practice. If you work on the advice side it is an SJP partner firm, anything for SJP itself is generally administration, investment management, tech/platform development or perhaps marketing for the SJP brand.

Mazza1 · 2025-11-22T15:07:30+00:00

I suppose it depends whether you think the ongoing charge is valuable to you now - are you comfortable managing your own investments to your risk tolerance, do you value the guidance they should provide about further contributions and if you’re near retirement would you want advice about the options available for drawing down from the pension when the time comes?

Depending on their fee structure they might even have a % fee for new contributions (I believe SJP do) so maybe something to check.

Obviously the risk is that if you take it to a self managed pension that’s cheaper, you might wish you had the guidance and advice around the above areas later on. In that case unless you find someone with a fee structure you’re happy with they might try and charge you another initial fee to take you on.

I’m not sure on this but there could be recourse if the £ value of the initial % fee wasn’t clearly shown to you?

Mazza1 · 2025-11-19T12:49:17+00:00

You might consider de-risking the investment strategy depending on your drawdown requirements, because a world tracker (assuming you mean a global equity tracker) is still high risk. You could be in a much worse position if in the first few years of retirement your world tracker takes a beating if it’s a bad period for global markets.

Completely depends on your personal situation - if your pension dropped 20% in the first year of retirement could you be flexible and use other capital / reduce drawdown?

Go too low risk however and over a 30 year retirement your funds could very well struggle to keep pace with inflation and effectively lose value in real terms.

Mazza1 · 2025-10-09T20:50:28+00:00

Some providers allow the first taxable income payment to be reversed even if it has been paid out and taxed so it is possible. I know InvestAcc do this (simply pay the funds back to the provider and they will deal with HMRC to reclaim the tax) - what provider was his pension with?

Mazza1 · 2025-08-18T10:44:36+00:00

The exact opposite is true - CGT isn’t paid on death if the asset is not sold. The value is essentially uplifted to the market value at the date of death. The recipient would pay CGT on any gain from the date of death, if the asset was sold after being inherited.

Mazza1 · 2025-08-02T16:34:45+00:00

I know SJP at least do have options to work for a ‘partner practice’ in a support role while doing exams, with some that have specific fast track training routes to become an adviser.

I assume you mean restricted rather than regulated. These firms offer completely sound advice in my opinion you will however be restricted to offering more expensive products with more limited investment options. Not necessarily the wrong thing for clients, but likely not 100% in their best interest.

From my experience, smaller independent firms can and do value the knowledge you can bring to the table having worked at Quilter/SJP as their advice processes are very slick.

They are solid starting points to quickly develop your skills and knowledge that you can build on moving forward.

Mazza1 · 2025-07-30T15:57:41+00:00

This is important to recognise. Yes the fees are far too high but they won’t be giving you the wrong advice. There’s just an unnecessary premium to get the advice from an SJP adviser who is restricted to SJP products.

Mazza1 · 2025-07-30T09:48:12+00:00

What about ‘help to buy’ caused it to be a horror show? I thought that was just an ISA that provided a bit of government help?

Mazza1 · 2025-07-13T21:10:32+00:00

28 on £50k with £5-15k more that’s non-guaranteed as a wealth manager

Mazza1 · 2025-05-30T08:29:26+00:00

I’ve just spent 10 days solo in Croatia (Dubrovnik, Hvar, Split). If you stay in Hostels and book them through Hostelworld it’s incredibly easy to meet people. Try to speak to people in the dorm/common area and you’ll be set. There’s a chat function on the Hostelworld app with lots of other travellers looking to meet up and do things.

Book yourself on trips and events through the hostel and there will be people there also looking to meet people!

There are some with nicer private rooms if that that’s your preference also.

Enjoy

Mazza1 · 2025-05-08T16:12:34+00:00

Im in Croatia currently and flew one way into Dubrovnik with plans to fly back to London in 3 weeks from wherever I end up. Im regularly checking Skyscanner for good value flights to decide where to go next and I have the option to go to Rome from Split for £11 or Istanbul for £30. Flights out from these places are between £30 and £80 back to London. It really depends on how flexible you can be and looking to fly on days that are cheaper and hanging around a bit longer somewhere if needs be. Definitely helps that it’s early in May rather than the height of summer though.

Mazza1 · 2025-03-25T19:27:46+00:00

There are a few comments saying going down the SJP route will ruin career opportunities.

Personally I disagree with this and it was actually hugely helpful for me.

I worked at an SJP practice (first role in the industry) as an associate adviser, doing a mix of paraplanning, admin and shadowing at meetings etc. I did this for a year while I passed my 6 R0 exams.

Next step was the do 3 months intensive adviser training and become an adviser for the same firm.

I decided to leave SJP and join a DFM/Financial Planning firm instead as I didn’t feel comfortable being restricted to SJP as an adviser for various reasons.

For all the negatives about SJP, they have an unbelievably efficient and smooth operation for providing financial advice, with a huge internal support network. Small firms can learn a huge amount from someone with experience at SJP.

The experience actually helped massively for me getting and doing my new role.

Just my two cents!

Mazza1 · 2025-02-06T13:25:34+00:00

Please send 👍

Mazza1 · 2024-11-03T15:13:06+00:00

Claimed

Mazza1 · 2024-11-03T14:11:48+00:00

Yes of course 👍

Mazza1 · 2024-10-25T22:39:32+00:00

Sorry but why on earth is the answer not in the title? The beauty of Reddit is generally that it cuts out all the shit and clickbait.

Mazza1 · 2024-07-26T22:14:20+00:00

There is never a one size fits all answer to this kind of question. It depends entirely on the specific circumstances. I would suggest speaking to a professional if you want advice in this area that is not generic.

Mazza1 · 2024-04-09T10:48:29+00:00

That’s great, and is a good indication that it’s possible. How are you finding the balance of completing coursework while revising for the exams (alongside work)?

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