Fund firm’s £80m profit

ProFITs at wealth manager st James’s Place have jumped – just days after it was said to have misled customers.

Profit at the business hit £79.6m for the first half of 2017, up 32pc on the same period last year.

Bosses have hiked the interim dividend by 25pc to 15.41p per share after customers handed over £4.3bn in the period, up from £3.1bn last year. However there are concerns it is not being straight with investors after an investigation by Which? saw 12 mystery shoppers approach st James’s advisers. general charges were not explained clearly, the consumer group said, and some advisers failed to mention annual fees that investors would have to pay.

The firm denied the claims.