Karl Hames

Spear’s Review

Karl Hames, principal partner of Hames Associates Wealth Management, a partner practice of St. James’s Place, was beginning to worry how he would deal with clients, some of whom he has known for decades, when it came for him to retire. The answer came in the form of his daughter, Phoebe, who joined the business first as back office and administration, then as an adviser in her own right.

‘The clients like it because she’s dynamic, and I’m a safe pair of hands,’ he told Spear’s. ‘She’s now taking care of their descendants, the next generation.’

The firm’s clients are primarily business owners and high-level executives, and Hames’s focus is firmly on individual advice, laid out clearly in understandable language. ‘Whatever it is we do for clients, I’m continually thinking refresh, refresh, refresh. I don’t want to be the guy that gives them the same report and structure that they had a year or six months ago,’ he said.

Adviser Profile

The business of creating wealth frequently leaves little time for managing it. 

Karl is a Principal Partner at St. James’s Place. With over 30 years of planning and advising experience, he understands your priorities and needs come first and wants to work with you long-term, as he continues to with many existing clients.

Working exclusively with business owners, senior executives and entrepreneurs, Karl helps you look forward and uses his creative and analytical skills to deliver individual solutions. 

The future is not set in stone, priorities inevitably change over time, and this is a great example of where Karl comes in to his own – on your behalf. Flexibility is the key to successful planning, as is knowing, as Karl does, how to adapt different aspects of your finances to synergise and work for you. He will be there to challenge, review and help you remain in control. 

Continuity and your legacy grow in importance as time passes. Karl and Phoebe have positioned themselves to work very effectively with families where multi-generational advice is needed, and in doing so can ensure continuity and consistency to meet your advice needs. 

While these needs may change over time, so does the financial landscape. Karl is a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society and specialises in certain areas of advice which leads other advisors to seek his assistance with their client’s advice needs. 

Technical expertise is only as good as its application, and Karl, as a career financial planner, provides detailed and ongoing service and advice on a daily basis, across a very wide range of situations and circumstances, ensuring he is always in touch and current. 

Beyond the workplace, Karl is a keen runner, cyclist, skier and hiker and regularly raises funds for the St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation.