The development was announced today by the company which also reported its annual turnover and profit figures showing that despite positive figures elsewhere in the company the SJP advice business made a £10.9m loss in 2014 after a loss of £6.1m loss in 2013. The losses were blamed mainly on legacy business integration.
The company said that the bank account would be called The St. James's Place Money Management Account. It will be branded under St. James's Place but run by Metro Bank. It will offer eligible clients a fully functional banking service as well as a secured overdraft facility secured against the value of clients St. James's Place investment portfolio.
The company announced a final dividend of 14.37 pence per share – up 50% giving a full year dividend of 23.30 pence per share – up 46%.
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In other developments the company said that it would continue to expand its regional academies and aim to improve the efficiency of its back office systems.
Total new single investments were £7.8 billion (2013: £6.6 billion) – up 18% and the net inflow of funds under management of £5.09 billion (2013: £4.23 billion) – up 20%. Total finds under management are now £52 billion (2013: £44.3 billion) and the total number of qualified advisers is up 10.3% to 2,835
David Bellamy, chief executive, said: "This year we will seek to further strengthen our relationship with our clients by exploring opportunities to enhance our proposition, through the continual development of our approach to the management of their wealth and the addition of complementary services, so that we are able to offer a more complete proposition. We're going to start with the introduction of a new banking service in April, The St. James's Place Money Management Account."
Profit before shareholder tax, on an International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) basis, was £182.9 million for 2014. The 2013 result was £190.7 million having benefited by £8.9 million from a reinsurance transaction during the year, the company said. The company saw over 52,000 new clients introduced to St. James's Place and new investments of £7.8 billion.