deVere Group review: Warning 45

I can only agree with these comments. There are some good companys out there but these are not one of them. They used to be called Britex and were involved in the Imperial Consolidated scam and this was the reason they changed their name. They are now pushing a 20% return scheme with capital guarantee - BEWARE.
DO NOT TRUST ANYONE FROM De Veres.
To be clear this is the company who provide offshore financial planning to expats and not be confused with any other company of a similar name.

A single £500pm savings plan over 25years will earn devere (not the salesman) £6, 300 in commission and not only that, the first 23 months payments that the client makes NEVER gets invested (it’s a front loaded policy) so all the clients premiums, that’s £11, 500 in total, goes in commission and charges!

I can only agree to stay clear of deVere and any of their daughter companies - I have unfortunately signed up with them about 5 years ago, and have now waited a full year for reply to my requests - besides 4 years of no contact from their side through a crisis and all.
Lodging a complaint has - 6 months later - resulted in them hiding behind "we have no legal obligations towards you, and you are free to choose any financial adviser you want". 5 years after signing up they tell me that they do not have responsibility?

My experiences are that they are rude, do not return calls, do not keep promises and that they will turn anything against you and twist the truth to their advantage. You are not a customer here, you are a money making machine. They have absolutely no interest in helping you or giving you correct advise.

Companies associated with Inter-Alliance Worldnet are also associated with deVere and Partners/deVere Group:

"...deVere and Partners recently acquired the Inter-Alliance International (IAI) Group, which includes Inter-Alliance WorldNet..."
http://www.havenpartners.net/client/newsletters/issue01.pdf

"OFS Dubai is a part of Inter-Alliance WorldNet, which in turn is part of DeVere & Partners"
http://www.datadubai.com/United_Arab_Emirates/Dubai/Dubai_Business_and_Economy/Services/Financial_Services/16497-1539.html

The deVere group also owns other entities:
Websites:
Expat moneyguide website (http://www.expatmoneyguide.com/) http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/devere-group-acquires-online-guide-site-91192589.html
Shelteroffshore: apparently partnered with devere (http://www.shelteroffshore.com/index.php/living/more/expatriate_financial_services)

RT Financial in Brazil (https://www.devere-group.com/news/deVere-Group-acquires-Brazilian-Financial-Brokerage-RTFinancial.aspx)
PIC in Dubai (http://www.linkedin.com/companies/p-i-c---devere-and-partners)

Unqualified, untrained self employed commission only salesmen. End of.
I am ashamed to say I have worked for them and its all about commission. DO NOT TRUST these scammers or you will lose out. As already mentioned the plans they push are so high in charges, fees and commissions that it takes over 8 years to break even.
The first two years of your premiums go straight into the pocket of Devere in commissions and not a penny gets invested. Its shameful.

I don't quite agree. Like any other Financial Service company DeVere are looking out to make money. And of course they get a commission for any product they sell. Is any other financial institution in the world different? No!
I have two savings products with them and I had support from DeVere over all these years. The products they recommend are located in countries with proper regulations, in contrast to other offshore products where you might never see your money back.

I hate to say i have encountered this company and been lied to. I trusted their advice and didn't check the history of the company ... they actually called themselves PIC which is also DeVere. I thought i signed into a plan that was for 14 years until I retired, unfortunately when the paperwork showed up some 4 months after the cooling off date i had been put on the maximum 25 years. I tried to call the agent and was told he left the company.

I saw another rep who advised me i wouldn't be able to cash in the plan until 11 after i had retired and would have to pay in until the end... he advised me to freeze the plan and set up a new one for the correct length of time and later he would transfer the money from the original plan but could only do that after 18months.

I thought it sounded good advice which I followed.

I set up another plan and stopped paying the first, after a year or so I tried to contact the new rep to find out when the money was going to get transferred from the original plan...I was told he had left and that the money was not able to be transferred and that it never has been. I lost the $8, 000 I had originally invested. The advice I was given was rubbish... I was scammed twice I wish i hadn't given in to there cold calling antics.

I have lived in Spain for 3 years - devere invested my money in structured notes promising all sorts of returns. I lost over 50% of my money and now when I ring them they blag me off. One guy even told me to piss of and stop bothering them. They did not tell me about their hidden charges where it appears 16% of my money was gone in commissions the day I invested. I tried to complain but it now turns out they are not even regulated and I have nowhere to go. dont trust them they lie and promise the earth and once you have invested they dont want to know you.

every massive major company has bad reviews, like me and Microsoft, however...I have been working with Devere for over 10 years now...I have had the same advisor, and have had great products given to me, savings and a lump sum. EVERYONE MAKES MONEY! its how the world works! my advice, meet with your advisor a coupe of times...if he/she asks your opinion, gets to know you, and you feel like you can trust him/her...then you will get a great service...If they seem pushy...and you feel uncomfortable...DONT DO IT, there are ppl in the world that actually love there jobs...if you feel this from the advisor...then let them help you...if anyone needs a personal recomendation from me and the lady looking after me...ill be more than happy to help...

I get the same messages about what I do, and i HATE the bad name a few bad ppl can leave behind...

I have been with DeVere since 2008
I am one of those people stupid enough to have fallen for their scam.
I wont bother going into the long-story details.
Suffice to say that I have lost a total of 12, 000 euros
Right now, I am only looking to get my money back...if thats at all possible
Has anyone successfully sued them? Or launced any action against them?
If you have, please contact me. I am in the process of hiring a lawyer

Thanks

My daughter was sold a bill of goods by deVere in Tokyo. Their agent filled in an inflated salary and a false email address. I am outraged. Have you had any progress in challenging them?

We are trying to organize a group petition against DeVere and Generali International

SO far, we have over a hundred signatures. More and more people are signing up

We can take legal action only if we pool ourselves together, and go after these scammers.

If you want to join, send me a private message

Also, here is the Facebook Petition Group : https://www.facebook.com/generalipetition

I am in touch with a PIC-De Vere "free" financial consultant in Abu Dhabi, UAE. I am about to sign a Portfolio Bond (charges 10%) and invest Equities/Securities (shares) and a GBP50K structured note 5 years. Wish me well.

DO NOT DO IT !

That's the only advice I can give you

The Portfolio Bond and the structured note are good options for a lump sum investment provided you understand the risk you are taking. Ask your adviser to explain the volatility of the underlying asset in detail over the last five years and check what independent analysts are saying about the underlying holdings for the term you are thinking of staying invested for.

Hi all,

I had my second meeting with a PIC financial adviser today; we are looking into 25 year Pension plan - and from what I was told, there are no charges PIC takes - all the charges are taken by Zurich, and that is not more than 2% + 7.5 USD monthly - the comments read above mention charges up to 16% - I cannot make sense of it - are the people i met with today lying?

Could those of you who had bad experience let me know what plans you have enrolled with PIC/Deveres?

Thanks.

AN_2

As far as I am concerned - and I am an economist and contributor to various financial publications covering products and services similar to that of deVere Group - they are a huge company providing their service across something like 80 countries.

I'm guessing for every person claiming wrongdoing, there are perhaps more who are happy with the advice they are given and the performance of their plans.

As with any form of investment, there are going to be times when things do not always go to the script. Minimise your risks by ensuring you have the investment aspect of your policy spread across multiple assets classes. In fact, minimise the amount you wish to invest if you just hope to preserve funds and see a relatively conservative level of growth.

Only you can really decide on whether the product and the advice is most appropriate for what you are targeting. If the advisor is experienced and is able to back up what they say with credible answers, I see no reason not to go ahead.

Investing in one's retirement is only really done effectively by utilising experienced advice, so if you can't use a firm with such a huge client base and years working with expatriates, I'm really not sure who you could use.

Wife and I signed up in Holland, they promised it would transfer to the US if we decided to move. It did not. Lost 16, 000 euro. Anyone know with whom we can file a complaint?

I have been sold a Generali Vision life assurance investment product by DeVere with a 20 year investment term. The facts about the fee structure and the flexibility of the plan were either omitted or misrepresented to me. After nearly 5 years and 170, 000 USD worth of investment, the plan has not made any money. Now I am finding out that the fee structure is outrageously onerous. The administration fee of 2% is levied every year ON THE TOTAL AMOUNT CONTRIBUTED TO DATE in the first 10 years. For example, in the 10th year of the plan, no less than 21.5% of the total contributions made during that year go towards fees. And it gets worse. Contrary to what I was led to believe, I cannot reduce the amount of monthly contribution without suffering large losses. That is because the fees are charged based on the the original contribution size and remain so. Stopping the plan will cost you most of your money in surrender fees. Please, do yourself a favour, STAY AWAY FROM DEVERE AND GENERALI!

Anyone with a complaint should file it with the securities regulator in the country they live. The US SEC will accept your complaint if you are in the US.

exactly what is happening to me now with PIC/DeVere in Dubai and Generali Vision, they have no skin in the game once the "initial period" is over, they are a rip ... the portfolio performance horrible, and once you try to change or exit, you are stuck, this is the epitome of unethical behavior. I am passing the word to every expat I meet/know/see, stay away from PIC/DeVere and Generali

I just sent below mail to Devere Dubai, I have deleted the names for anonymity. I'm shocked what guys they let loose because this one needs professional help.

Dear Devere,

In the last few weeks I have been contacted by one of your sales personnel named XXXXXX regarding a financial savings plan. Whilst very interesting, we ultimately decided that we did not fit the profile and the product did not meet our requirements.
As a result we communicated this to the focal point XXXXXX. Though there were delays in the communication due to business travel, family priorities and others, we did provide the feedback.

Below is the response from XXXXXX:

Hi Customer

I spoke to your wife and we agreed you would come back to me with a answer if we are moving forward or not and since our meeting I gave you longer than I would for anyone. We sat together over a month ago and now your not playing fare and getting back to me! I would very much appreciate you saying to me and keeping in the picture after I came out and asked you to be straight and fare. If your not moving forward I need to know so I can take you off my system and let someone else deal with it. But I thought we got on and I'm in the principle that if I tell someone I will call them back I will and not leave them hanging. I'm a professional person and I treated you both with up most respect and in return you've just blanked me. I will ask you this once so we can move on. Are you both deciding to move forward or not with financial savings

Please reply or pick the phone up and call me.

Yours sincerely

XXXXXX

Note that only a single missed call was received. We responded that I would call back before today end of business day. Unfortunately, full day meetings decided against that. In order to provide the notice, before the weekend I sent XXXXXX an sms thanking him for the service but indicating we would not continue.

Below is the response from XXXXXX:

That's a very selfish way Customer name to end a situation it a cowardly way by not picking up the phone maybe best you've done this as I only want to work with people who are straight and upfront your best going with a company that will treat you the way you treat them

Take care and say thank you to Customer wife for atleast answering my call
All the best

I must say that I am disappointed, if not appalled by both messages. Please consider this a complaint that I will escalate in official circles of Devere.

Thank you and best regards,
Customer name

As a US resident I am about to sign up for QROPS with De Vere STM and Generali. Should I do it ? Understand that the cash lump will be 30% this year and reduce to 25% next. I am frightened by the warnings of woe. Got to say that the fees have not be completely detailed not have the recourses should I want to exit. Any final advice would be truly appreciated.
I do want to pull out of my UK scheme, think that the multiple is at an all-time high and the currency will only drift further down as the dollar strengthens. Just don't want to lose my shirt with an effective lock in, exorbitant fees, crappy service and poor investment advice.

They iie, lie, lie - the first sales guy told me to sign up with them because it's more "tax efficient" than contributing toward an IRA. When I couldn't reach this sales guy in over a year, sales guy number 2 told me oh, so sorry but the plan I signed up with is not "tax efficient" at all! When I tried to make a withdrawal in March, I didn't get the money until Dec 29 - and only after constant harassment. At the same time I asked the sales guy to put the money into better performing funds and one year later, not one change has been made. DO NOT GET INVOLVED WITH THIS COMPANY!

Hello all,

I would advise reviewing my LinkedIn profile to know that I'm legit and review the company that I am working for.
I've noticed that there's mixed reviews of people's dealings with the De Vere group and most are either wanting out but would like to know how or feel trapped but don't know what to do.

I"m working with a few clients that fits the above and have managed to help them to the best I can.
If you are willing to have a chat about this more in depth please feel free to message me or contact me via my Linked: Christian Jacobs.

I am a financial adviser in Australia who has been head-hunted via linked in to work for this company. As a part of my due-diligence I have come across this site.
To every person here who is unsure as to whether or not you should enter into a financial agreement please make sure you are certain of the following:
You should obtain a written document which CLEARLY outlines all fees and commissions to ALL parties involved for all products being recommended - including upfront AND on-going fees, costs and commissions (if you're not sure about the FULL cost, don't sign),
a copy of the company's privacy statement,
the contact details of both the company AND any country-specific person external to the company (in Australia we have an ombudsman), to whom you can make a complaint should you be unsatisfied.

A good adviser should look at your situation, your goals, what is important to you, what it is you want to achieve and when you want to achieve it by and tailor a plan that fits YOU and your risk tolerance. You should also have on-going contact with the adviser (at least annually) to make changes when or where appropriate once the initial plan has been implemented. A good adviser will also explain everything to you so that it is clear and ensure you understand any risks involved and that you are comfortable with them - after all, it's your money and your family's future it's affecting.

Unfortunately, the majority of what I have read on here sounds very much like people have been just 'sold products' rather than given proper personal advice.
If you are not sure about a financial agreement you are about to enter into PLEASE GET A SECOND OPINION from a qualified independent financial adviser - you may have to pay a couple of hundred dollars to have them review your plan, but that peace of mind and expert advice might just save you thousands in the long run.

I can also confirm that they are not a company to deal with. They give you bad advice, take their commissions and then ran away.

In Mozambique they had even closed their offices when they realised there are to many unhappy customers in Mozambique. After they closed their offices here it took about 18 months before I was able to meet with a representative from their Zimbabwe office who apparently now oversees the operations in Mozambique. I was contacted on a few occasions with a request to meet a representative in Maputo. I agreed every time but it never happened.

A few of their own employees had even said to me the advice given to me was totally incorrect and my funds should not have been invested through the platform it was invested or invested in the funds it was invested in. it seems like they went for the highest commissions for themselves on not looking after my interests. I lost more than USD 200 000 due to their bad advice and are still loosing today as I am trying to get out but it seems like it is impossible or Devere does not want to assist in this. I just can not get answers out of them.

Even their client relations does not give you satisfactory answers. I had tried that route and took them about 4 weeks to give a very unsatisfactorily answer. My advice stay away from Devere if you want to keep your money safe.

Entities like these should be closed down by the authorities world wide.

I have been scammed by this company (they misrepresented the fee structure) and I have lost 30k euros to them. THere is no recourse or way to get them back. If anyone has had any success in getting their money back please let me know! thanks

I think everyone with a complaint should reach out to freelancehacker@tuta.io, they recover funds under the condition that they take a percentage, that totally worked for me, I assume everyone else shouldn't have any problems with that.

Couldn't agree more! I also unfortunately signed up in 2011 for a 30 years plan. I had to decrease my monthly contributions from 800 Euro to 135 Euro (the minimum allowed) after 4 years (as life situation is never constant, things change and you need to adapt). Obviously the cost of the plan does not go down accordingly, but remains fixed to the cost linked to the initial monthly contributions. The surrender value today is 30% of the total amount of money I have paid. Even worse, if I would keep paying 135 Euro each month for the next 24 years I would not even get back the amount of money I paid to them (let alone ANY possible gain).
This is absolutely a scam, especially considering they claim they are flexible and they offer very low cost compared to other plans.

Although I didn't work for this company (luckily), I still would like to make my own objective statement, which is based on my own interview experience with DeVere, but also on earlier reviews and complaints, rationale and common sense! Sorry that my comment is so long, but it must give you a comprehensive understanding about DeVere, so that you can make your own wise decisions about your future career.

I applied for the graduate program, as I initially thought it is a good organization. However, when I researched this company on Google, I was shocked to see so many negative reviews! Nevertheless, I was just curious to talk to the recruiters and find out more about this company. I accepted to participate in the webinar with DeVere's CEO, Nigel Green. The webinar is a total ###, nothing concrete. He used all 15-20 minutes to praise how good his company is, that is “the biggest advisory company in the world” (you can actually read it as “the biggest financial Scammers in the world”), and also about how good their employees are remunerated (in fact, it is other way around).

Because I wanted to ask some concrete questions about the program, I accepted to have a phone interview with DeVere's recruiter, Jamie Davidson (his LinkedIn profile: HTTPs://ae.linkedin.com/in/jamie-davidson-b4b564137). He didn’t let me ask my questions, but instead was pushing me to give him my feedback about CEO’s webinar, being quite surprised when I honestly responded that it was just “bla-bla-bla”. In the end, he asked me if I would have enough own funds to support my living expenses for the next 48 months (almost a year!), as they DON’T PAY ANY FIXED SALARY AT ALL during this period! Our discussion ended soon after I expressed my opinion that this scheme is a PURE SLAVERY and that I expect to earn a fixed salary, to which he responded that they only need people that are able to finance themselves on their own.

What can be concluded from it?

1. DeVere’s entry-level program is a pure PYRAMID scheme, where people come to work literally for free. Pay attention to how intensive DeVere is recruiting all the time! From the reviews I read, it turns out that the employee rotation in this graduate program is huge. Hence, DeVere is constantly looking for SLAVES to supplement the bottom layer of the pyramid, without paying them a cent as salary!

2. As it will be just commission-based INCOME, one could earn something only if he/she succeeds with sales. However, this becomes harder and harder to cold call people and convince them to invest their money in a company (DeVere), whose reputation is on the bottom and is already known even in the media (e.g. BBC) for involving in fraudulent activities. In the internet you will find a lot of information and complaints from investors about DeVere’s schemes.
In the end, even if you manage to succeed and earn your fees from the sales you make, what would be your level of ethics and how would you feel, knowing that you are literally scamming even poor pensioners into doubtful financial products

3. As DeVere’s awful reputation is already known, especially in the financial industry, it will be impossible for you to get any job in a respectful company after working in DeVere. With such an experience you will spoil your CV / Resume, and your chances to be hired somewhere else in the industry will be almost ZERO, as you will be associated with a scammer.

4. Although the CEO, Nigel Green, have self-claimed that DeVere is “the biggest financial advisory group in the world”, again, these are just “nice” words that you like to hear. In fact, DeVere has been already banned by the regulatory authorities of several countries in the world! I come from Scandinavia, and when I asked the interviewer (Jamie Davidson) whether there are any offices here, he said “No”. There are no offices in the Nordic Europe, and it is also not possible to be hired in the UK or in the USA. To my own knowledge, DeVere had offices in these jurisdictions, but they are not allowed to operate there anymore. Try to ask yourself “Why” … Probably the authorities in other countries are either too corrupt to ban them, or too incompetent to be able to notice the schemes that they are engaging in. This is my rationale with respect to why DeVere still operates in such loosely regulated markets.

5. There are so many negative reviews about DeVere, that it is enough for making an objective opinion about what kind of company it indeed is. For that reason, DeVere is trying to engage internet-trolls (most probably, from current employees) in attempt to impact its negative reputation. Even the CEO has constantly criticized all the negative reviews, as coming from “envious people”, “haters” and DeVere’s “competitors”. Well, what else can he do instead? But don’t let yourself manipulated! The CEO, Nigel Green, seems to be a typical swindler, who pretends that his company has been “attacked”, because it has been so “successful”. If you want to see indeed successful companies in the financial industry, google McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, PwC, Deloitte etc. and you will not find negative reviews… well, at least that many… despite that being leaders in their sectors and very successful, they also could potentially have “haters” who could write negative reviews about them. But in fact, they don’t… Again, ask yourself “Why”! There is never (so much) smoke without fire! If there are so many! complaints written by both former employees and investors of DeVere, then it must have some truth in there!

Summarizing the above-written conclusions, I want to warn everyone who thinks to apply for the graduate program: DON’T FALL INTO THIS TRAP! I was prudent enough to make a deeper research of DeVere, before deciding to take part in their slavery scheme (graduate program). Therefore, I encourage you to think twice and to do your own research before deciding to go for it. Try to think rationally about why this company would have so many complaints and make your own conclusions. In the end, if you walk on the street and you see a piece of #### on the ground, you don’t have to taste it to understand that this is indeed ####… The same logic applies with DeVere: you don’t have to work for them to realize who they actually are! With so many complaints, it is already obvious to notice that IT SMELLS SO BADLY!

The only question that I still ask myself: How come the CEO, Nigel Green, is still in freedom?

If not for financialchargeback, com, I would have killed myself. after devere financial finished me, I had nothing an was ashamed to even tell people. it was not until I shared my problem before I found the answers I needed. it's true what they say... a problem shared is a problem half solved. I am happy I asked the right person for help... he directed me to financialchargeback, com and they helped me to get all of my money back. if you are doing business with them, if you are not having any problem with them, don't worry... when they start with you, you won't even believe that there was a time you didn't have any problem with them

They caught me at a bad moment in my life and because of it my Pension was frittered away. Stupid mistake to think any thing other than scammers.

Devere Group — I cannot go to my account

I deal with Jonathan James Hamer from deVere In Abu Dhabi, I have asked for a surrender on my Generali 2 accounts, 1 account has been closed and the other account [protected] I CANNOT see it anymore, what happened to my money.

Please help

Amel khalifa
amelnadi@gmail.com
[protected]

A cash promoter claiming to work for the devere group scamming people out of money by getting them to buy bitcoin and transferring it to an address and promising them a return on it .she has done it to me and will be contacting fraud just wanted you guys to be aware as she is saying she works for your group

I worked for them briefly and they also get their 'employees' to evade paying tax by getting them to pay a nominal amount into the country they are working an then the rest into an Isle of Man (or similar) bank account. Terrible company and should be shut down.

We have forensic evidence from two different jurisdictions that documentation left devere Spain with false signatures. Some jurisdictions call it forgery. There is also evidence of duplicated signatures on dealing instructions and even a meeting with a deceased client (my father in law) 3 days after he was cremated, signed by the cremated client and co signed by the devere Spain adviser.

Yes, all this can be backed up. Unfortunately its not possible on this page to post the evidence other wise it would be up here.

The deVere complaints team and deVere Spain Director has told us "they have nothing to add"

Everything in this review can be supported with hard evidence.

People need to see it.