The headlines tell a stark story: St. James’s Place advisers now owe a staggering £847 million—and that figure is climbing by £1.5 million every week.
This debt isn’t just a number. It’s a heavy chain around the necks of thousands of advisers, often taken on to buy books of business or entire practices under the SJP Business Purchase and Sale Scheme. With interest rates currently at 7.75% and loan terms stretching over a decade, these debts can dominate an adviser’s professional and personal life.
And here’s the kicker: SJP’s own accounts confirm that in practice, advisers cannot sell their businesses outside the network. That’s not a ladder—it’s a cage.
Why Advisers Get Stuck
The SJP model encourages borrowing to “grow” an adviser’s business. But when valuations drop by up to 45%, advisers are left holding expensive debt for assets that simply aren’t worth what they paid.
The company says the model “supports great outcomes for clients” and “retains advisers and clients” within the ecosystem. What it really retains is FUM (Funds Under Management)—and the debt ensures advisers keep selling products to pay it off.
The Path They Don’t Mention at the SJP Academy
There is an alternative. It’s called planning outside the FCA regulatory perimeter—and it means working in a space where debts like these don’t have to be repaid.
This is not a loophole. It’s a different model of financial planning—one that puts life before money and uses human capital strategies to build sustainable income streams without being chained to product sales targets.
It’s the kind of thinking we teach at the Academy of Life Planning, and it’s completely absent from the SJP Academy curriculum—for one simple reason: when advisers use human capital strategies in cashflow planning, the need for financial capital product sales drops. And that’s not in SJP’s business interest.
Making the Shift for Less Than a Coffee and Cake
Breaking free from the debt-driven model isn’t just about escaping a financial trap—it’s about reclaiming your professional independence, reducing stress for you and your family, and building a business that works for you.
To get started, you can access our GAME Plan Training Taster Session—a short but eye-opening introduction to a life-first planning model that changes everything—for just £4.99.
If you’re an adviser, this could be the moment you realise you have a choice. If you know someone at SJP, this could be the moment you give them hope.
📩 Here’s your next step:
Get the GAME Plan Taster Session today for only £4.99 and see for yourself why hundreds of advisers are rethinking what “financial planning” really means. And if you share it with someone at SJP, you might just make their day.
Get the Human Capital Development Taster Here and start building the skillset every modern financial planner needs.
Further Reading on Human Capital from the Academy of Life Planning
If today’s article sparked your interest, here are more in-depth pieces exploring the power of human capital in financial planning:
- When Will We Wake Up? Human Capital, Not Tax Hikes, Drives Growth
Why economic growth depends on investing in people—not fiscal tricks or tax hikes. - Fractional Working and the GAME Plan: A New Human Capital Strategy for Holistic Wealth
How fractional working is reshaping careers and aligning with values-led planning. - Rethinking Retirement: Why Human Capital Strategies Matter More Than Ever
Why earnings potential matters more than pension size for long-term security. - 100 Human Capital Strategies to Generate Extra Income (No Financial Capital Needed)
Practical, real-world ways to boost your income without touching your savings. - Human Capital: The Catalyst for Economic Renewal — and How the GAME Plan Can Unlock It
How building skills and potential fuels prosperity for individuals and nations. - From Earnings to Impact: Redefining Human Capital through Holistic Wealth Planning
A broader vision for turning your skills and purpose into real-world change. - Ending Poverty Through Empowered Human Capital: The GAME Plan in Action
How developing human capital can help achieve global anti-poverty goals. - Time to Retire the Narrow View: Why Human Capital Theory Must Evolve
Why traditional economic views on human capital need an urgent rethink. - Human Capital: The Missing Piece in Financial Planning
Why financial planning must shift from products to people. - The Role of Human Capital in Redefining Financial Planning
Why your greatest financial asset may not be money—but you.
Join the M-POWER Movement: From Financial Extraction to Personal Liberation
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