St James Place Wealth Management?

They look like asset allocators more than a fund of fund (which would mean that client assets are pooled in mutual funds that are then allocated to external funds). A fairly common approach in PWM. I don't know of them but just skimmed the website. I would guess a few things based on the site:

The face-to-face advisors probably work directly with clients to determine asset allocation based on either some risk based metric or less defined approach. Then the asset classes are fulfilled using products on their platform (see next point).

The referenced "investment committee" selects the products that advisors have available to sell to their clients. It's unclear whether an advisor has broad leeway to make investment decisions within those products or whether a strongly suggested or required allocation is essentially pushed on them. Either way is not necessarily bad, it depends on the strength of the committee. Sometimes it's nice to have a central force making the investment decisions and focusing on tailoring to your clients. If you're leveraging directly to an analyst role in capital markets/equity research etc you can sell either experience, especially since right out of school you won't be making any decisions anyways. The exposure to the capital markets is more important.

Fee structure is uncertain - whether they charge an AUM fee or brokerage commissions. Since they sell Unit Investment Trusts, I'm guessing commissions (I tend to dislike UIT's, since you're essentially charging a one time active management fee for a static, not even passive, portfolio - really a joke for clients - but I'm not sure how theirs work). I would figure this out. Each is a different structure.

With $50bn under management, you may want to figure out what the typical book size is in terms of AUM and number of relationships. 50 relationships at $10MM each is a much different experience than 300 relationships of $500k each. If it's the latter, and a brokerage shop, you're probably just pushing product. If the former, and an AUM model, than you're doing true asset allocation and probably incorporating planning work for your clients.

Again, I'm guessing to ALL of the above just based on the site, but it should give you some direction on questions to ask in your interviews (or before accepting an offer).

Is the role entry level? If so, determine if it is administrative or analytical. If it's administrative, figure out if it leads to a more analytical role. My firm has entry level administrators that work their way to investment oriented associates after a few years. Administrative work would be putting together meeting books, opening accounts, potentially coordinating with custodians, etc.

What do you see next in terms of goals? Growth to advisor? B-School? Research or other finance experience? This should play a huge factor in your decision. I know a LOT of people who took roles like those I just described, did 1-2 levels of the CFA and then hopped to asset management firms in product or capital markets roles. If your end game is B-School, I would think the client facing experience will be helpful, but they seem to like big numbers (working with 50 $10MM clients instead of 300 $500k clients). But it depends on what school. If you want to be an advisor and their model sounds attractive than it could be a no brainer.

One thing I will say is don't expect $250k in associate pay like is referenced in some places on this website. Just like any other industry, a mid tier firm pays significantly less. A lot of people I know make $40-60k first year in PWM and associates at some firms are in the $50/60-70/80 range depending on experience, with bonus, unless you are exceptional. Not sure about the UK but I would be its similar. That's OK too, as long as you have your expectations set. But, maybe I'm wrong, like I said I don't know the firm. Glassdoor can help here or just ask a peer through LinkedIn who works there during an informational interview. They might not answer, but it can't hurt.

Feel free to PM me if you want clarification on anything.