[Global] DeVere Group responds to expats’ pension loss claims

DeVere Group has made a statement in response to a story in The Times which said that a group of people based outside the UK, including expatriates, claimed to have lost tens of thousands of pounds from their pensions following financial advice, International Investment reports. 

On December 4, The Times reported claims that NHS nurses and dentists, employees of construction and oil companies, as well as wealthy expats, had seen as much as half their savings disappear after being convinced to take out investments by deVere Group.

DeVere’s advisers are alleged to have tracked down British people living around the world, making contact via cold calls and then offering help with tax planning for the new country in which they were living.

According to The Times’ report, the savers claim they were then convinced to move their money out of traditional UK savings plans - including the lucrative NHS pension scheme - and into investments, including some that incurred steep charges and undisclosed commissions for the salespeople. Many of these savers failed to realise that the investments were unregulated and could often be high risk.

In some cases, investors were reportedly left trying to track down their savings by following a trail of accounts held in tax havens, frequently doing so because their deVere adviser had become unreachable.

DeVere was set up nearly two decades ago by Nigel Green, a British businessman who now lives in Dubai.

A spokesperson for deVere Group said, "The article has a high number of false allegations and many inaccuracies. deVere reviews all complaints on their merits. We have no wish to answer blogs. We reply to all clients and deal with them fairly by email through the proper procedure.

"The reasons for the fund choices and the advice given at the time are documented and were correct at the time of the investment. The choice of fund was approved by and signed for the former clients. All charges were fully disclosed, approved by and signed for by the former clients."

Source: International Investment

(Link and quote via original reporting)

DeVere Group has made a statement in response to a story in The Times which said that a group of people based outside the UK, including expatriates, claimed to have lost tens of thousands of pounds from their pensions following financial advice, International Investment reports. 

On December 4, The Times reported claims that NHS nurses and dentists, employees of construction and oil companies, as well as wealthy expats, had seen as much as half their savings disappear after being convinced to take out investments by deVere Group.

DeVere’s advisers are alleged to have tracked down British people living around the world, making contact via cold calls and then offering help with tax planning for the new country in which they were living.

According to The Times’ report, the savers claim they were then convinced to move their money out of traditional UK savings plans - including the lucrative NHS pension scheme - and into investments, including some that incurred steep charges and undisclosed commissions for the salespeople. Many of these savers failed to realise that the investments were unregulated and could often be high risk.

In some cases, investors were reportedly left trying to track down their savings by following a trail of accounts held in tax havens, frequently doing so because their deVere adviser had become unreachable.

DeVere was set up nearly two decades ago by Nigel Green, a British businessman who now lives in Dubai.

A spokesperson for deVere Group said, "The article has a high number of false allegations and many inaccuracies. deVere reviews all complaints on their merits. We have no wish to answer blogs. We reply to all clients and deal with them fairly by email through the proper procedure.

"The reasons for the fund choices and the advice given at the time are documented and were correct at the time of the investment. The choice of fund was approved by and signed for the former clients. All charges were fully disclosed, approved by and signed for by the former clients."

Source: International Investment

(Link and quote via original reporting)