Anonymous
map-marker Queretaro, Chiapas

Expect to Lose Money

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Imagen you put 10,000 USD in Structured Notes, After 4 years you reached 12,000 USD then I decide to close my account to received 9800 USD back, plus every month you get charged with micromanagement fees, and another 1000 different fees. Put your money somewhere else except Devere Momentum Accounts or similar products, advisors stay away ... you will lose money no questions...

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User's recommendation: Stay Away from Devere and similar products, how many times do you need to hear this again.

Thayne Vsv
map-marker Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi

Devere Group Abu Dhabi- I have lost nearly AED 100,000 as a result of this companies negligence.

Cheques given to them to pass on to my Financial account were not paid. The company contacted them and told them that payments were missing from my account and gave 90 days for money to be paid, and Devere failed to inform me of this.

They informed me much later, and as a result my account was surrendered. The company my account was with have told me they contacted Devere several times about my account, and that Devere did not get back to them. Devere's negligence has caused us to lose nearly AED 100,000 of our hard earned money! I have complained, and all they can say is that there is nothing they can do about it.

They do not deny that they failed to do their job as brokers, yet they do not offer any compensation for our loss. This has been a very sad and painful experience!

deVere Group Reply:
deVere Group provides expert independent advice to clients all over the world, helping them to maximise their capital and income. Together with our high level of service, we recommend products from some of the top institutions across the globe, which has allowed us to become one of the world’s leading financial advisory organisations.

We take all complaints very seriously and are sorry to hear you are not happy with your experience of deVere Group. It is of our understanding that a member of our team has already been in contact with you regarding this complaint, where we also provided you with more details on the matter.
View full review
Cons:
  • Unprofessional and negligent
Reason of review:
Poor customer service
Loss:
$26086
Preferred solution:

Full refund

Anonymous
map-marker Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur

Not Happy at all

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Devere Advisor are the less professional i have ever seen, the subscription i made through this agency end up being a total lost of money. i was promised a 10% growth each year, after 6 year the plan value is lower of 5000USD than my total investment.

when i look at closely, i found out that i never made any profit since i started investing in that plan. if i decide to surrender now, my expectation was to get my money back, at least what is remaining, instead, i will be loosing ~15000USD. those are the kind of things Devere Advisor never tell you when approaching you.

for the last 4 years, none of the adviser never called me to advise when they said they will always be calling me or following up on my investment and advise on options. They are very bad, never even accept being approached by them.

deVere Group Reply:
deVere Group prides itself on providing a high level of service and strives to uphold good relationships with all of its clients. Our fully-qualified financial advisers work closely with clients to help them choose the best investments based on their personal circumstances to help maximize their wealth. We take all queries very seriously and can confirm that an adviser will be in contact with you shortly to discuss this matter further.
View full review
Reason of review:
Poor customer service
Loss:
$20000
Preferred solution:

Full refund

Anonymous

Annulled Licence

The operation run by this firm in Cyprus was via their office in Belgium. That had its licenced annulled and thus the Cyprus operation closed.

Some of the unqualified staff moved to India, UAE and other unregulated jurisdictions. Others stayed in Cyprus moving into other salesman roles, using the sales tactics learnt during their week long Malta training course. Normal story, high front loaded commissions with the promise of great returns.

Fleece the consumer - who cares about them! After the operation was unlicensed they still brought over the next boat load of cowboys, one of whom was a used car salesman a month before.

deVere Group Reply:
deVere Group re-structured its European operations some years ago. This included the decision to reduce our presence in a number of countries, and instead, choosing to passport in to all European countries from our hubs.

This strategy has been very successful and we continue to provide excellent service for our clients in Western Europe and across the globe, from our 70 worldwide offices.

As a company, deVere continues to grow at exceptional pace and has recently announced its latest office based in Auckland, New Zealand.
View full review
Anonymous
map-marker Shanghai, Shanghai

Bad, Worse, Devere Shanghai

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First the guys are trying to sell you the products where they can get the highest commission (25 years retirement plan) and not listen to the customer needs. Second, some fonds are frozen and I can't sell them since 5 months already - but I need the money now for finacning my house for the family.

Excuses here and excuses there, bla, bla, bla. No understanding for the mistakes they have done. Postpone the problem again and again - "next month, we will review in December". Bad service, bad communication, bad performance.

Never ever again Devere.......

Thank you for this great service and support it confirms finally what I was expecting in the beginning. Morten Guba, Shanghai

deVere Group Reply:
Dear Mr. Guba,

As a company, we consistently strive to reach the high standards expected of us by our clients. Nonetheless, we do understand that issues may arise and we are always very willing to clear up any queries or complaints our clients may have. We believe that your financial adviser is in contact with you, giving you all the updates we are receiving to ensure you are fully informed as soon as we are.

Should you however require any further assistance, please do contact our Clients Relations Department on clientrelations@devere-group.com

Regards
deVere Group
View full review
Reason of review:
Bad quality
Loss:
$1800
Preferred solution:

Full refund

Anonymous

Devere Group Investment Program Review

I have no experience of deVere group products and financial management, only the frustrating experience of being constantly bugged by sales people trying to sell me services despite telling them I'm not interested. They call my office and don't leave the company name, or say it's a private matter from my days of working with them in the U.K.

I have no idea if they can manage finances but my experience of being hounded by dodgy double glazing salesman practices means I will never engage with deVere España.

And if they don't reply to my last email to cease and desist from pestering my office colleagues in Madrid and Barcelona I will be complaining to the regulator here in Spain. A most untrustworthy company just from its sales tactics.

deVere Group Reply:
Dear Sir/ Madam,

We would like to apologise for the inconvenience these calls are causing you.

Kindly advise who your email in regards to ceasing any further calls to your office was sent across to in order to ensure this is looked into at the earliest so no further calls are made.

Regards
deVere Group
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Quinette Iiw

DeVere advisor recommended unsuitable product for personal benefit

In 2013, whilst working abroad, I was verbally (face-to-face) advised by a deVere advisor to invest in a specific product based on my specific requirements, specifically my ability to easily access the money at any time in the future with no/minimal charges.

After paying monthly into the recommended product for nearly 3 years I quit my job and moved back to the UK. It was at this point that it became apparent that the investment product I had invested in was a long term investment fund with a 25-year term, and accessing my funds prior to the end of the term in 2028 would result in massive losses, akin to over 75% of the total value of the fund.

As I am no longer in a position to keep up the monthly payments and in no way verbally agreed to such an inflexible product I can report that I was badly, if not fraudulently, advised by deVere.

According to the deVere group their specific group company that provided the advice is based in Switzerland, which, funnily enough, doesn't have a financial ombudsman like the UK that would take up such complaints. As such I have no other alternative but to employ a solicitor in Switzerland to pursue the matter through the courts.

Given my experience I would advise against using deVere for any financial advice. It's clear their only aim is to benefit personally at the detriment of their clients. Avoid.

deVere Group Reply:
Dear Mr. Wooller,

As a company we endeavor to ensure that each of our clients receive full and detailed documentation on all aspects of our products before signing the paperwork. We can see that our dedicated Clients Relations Department has already looked into your complaint and a detailed review and analysis was conducted. Clients Relations have assessed your complaint accordingly and we urge you to contact them again should you not be satisfied with the response provided so this can be looked into further.

Regards
deVere Group
View full review
Cons:
  • Bad advice
  • Transparency
Reason of review:
Bad quality
Loss:
$25000
Preferred solution:

Full refund

Anonymous

Devere Group - Customer Care Review

So I was contacted by deVere sometime late 2013 and signed on to a policy/product. Somewhere along the line I lost my job and things went bad.

I needed cash so I decided to withdraw from the policy and cash out.

It's been over 10 months now of disappointment, and the account manager won't pick up my calls or return missed calls till I make the one and half hour drive to their office only to be promised a new date which is not kept. Now I feel a lot of regret having signed up with this institution here in Ghana.

Thanks

BAF

deVere Group Reply:
Dear Sir,

Thank you for your comments.

As a company, we consistently strive to reach the high standards expected of us by our clients. Nonetheless, we do understand that issues may arise and we are always very willing to clear up any queries or complaints our clients may have.

We understand that your allocated adviser has been in contact in order to explain why it isn’t possible to take out all your contributions and also provided you with copies of the paperwork which was originally signed with our organisation.

We have asked your adviser to get in touch with you again in order to go through any pending questions so that he can better explain why certain actions aren’t possible at this point in time.

Should you however need any further assistance please feel free to contact our dedicated Clients Relations Department on clientrelations@devere-group.com

Regards
deVere Group
View full review
Reason of review:
Return, Exchange or Cancellation Policy
Daelin Qaj
map-marker Basel, Basel-Stadt

Check fees carefully, strong rotation financial advisors

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Hi, I was approached by financial advisors of the Vere Group (in Switzerland) and they advised Generali Vision Plan. Although the 1st financial advisor seemed very engaged and I signed up to the Generali Vision Plan short thereafter he left the company and since there has been enormous rotation leading to practically no followup, delays in portfolio changes and limited advise, which led me to have to start doing it myself.

Recently I noticed that the fees of my Vision plan were significantly higher then was explained to me by the Veere Group.

In short it seems that it will become difficult to get a positive return on this plan. This is always a risk when investing, and I am sure De Vere Group has professional advisors as well, but I would suggest to be very vigilant on what you sign up to.

deVere Group Reply:
Dear Sir,

Thank you for your comments. deVere Group aims to recruit the very best employees and provides on-going training to ensure we can maintain the high standards we expect from all of our advisers. However, as the client, you are entitled to obtain second opinions from other advisers before choosing to invest. We are sorry that you have received unsatisfactory care following the departure of your deVere Consultant. We aim to make this infrequent transition period as smooth as possible for all of our clients.
View full review
Pros:
  • Global scope
Cons:
  • Consistency
  • Not clear about fees
  • Follow up
Reason of review:
Pricing issue
Anonymous
map-marker Puente Mayorga, Andalusia

DeVere is not independent

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In 2009 we approached a firm named Siddals in UK to obtain advice on investments which were to provide an income for our retirement in Spain. We made it very clear that we were not prepared to invest in anything that put our capital at any serious risk. The questionnaire that we completed confirmed our investment profile as “cautious”, which was described as follows: “I am cautious and dislike risk. I prefer security of capital and predictable investments. I accept that this may result in low rates of return being earned on my portfolio. I also accept that interest returns from deposit based investments move up and down, and when compared with the rate of inflation may produce a poor real return.” The proportion of my portfolio allocated to this risk profile was 100%. Siddals was subsequently taken over by the deVere Group.

In November 2009 deVere produced a report that recommended four funds: (a) Aria Absolute Income Protected Fund, (b) EEA Life Settlements Fund (c) Iveagh Wealth Fund, and (c) New Earth Solutions. The Aria fund offered 80% protection of the invested capital.

In June 2010 on the advice of deVere Spain’s managing director we sold our Aria investment and invested heavily in United Asset Management Strategic Growth Fund, United Asset Management Sàrl of Port Valais, Switzerland, (UAM). At that time, and not disclosed by deVere, was the fact that the deVere Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Nigel Green, was the 100% owner of UAM. This is clearly confirmed by the registration records of the Confédération Suisse of which I have copies.

At the time we were given a factsheet that described the fund as being “United Asset Management – Strategic Growth Fund”. The factsheet also stated that “currently, Mr Kellermann acts as the fund manager to United Asset Management”. This refers to Mr Cobus Kellermann, who at that time was joint owner of the Mauritius based Belvedere Management Group with Mr David Cosgrove. In a newsletter in March 2015 deVere claimed to have had a role in exposing alleged investment fraud being carried out by Belvedere. What deVere failed to mention was that the perpetrators of that fraud, Messrs Kellermann and Cosgrove, held senior positions in United Asset Management at the time and were instrumental in the failure of the Strategic Growth Fund.

Mr Cosgrove one of has, due to his failure to comply with the codes of the FSA, subsequently been disqualified by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius from “holding position as officer in any licensee of the FSC for a period of 5 years”.

According to its News Letters deVere boast that it is the worlds largest “independent financial adviser”. As such it has an obligation to remain completely independent. This obligation was breached by its selling of investments through a company wholly owned by its CEO who was benefiting from an additional layer of fees paid by us as the investors.

In February 2013 deVere informed us of problems with the UAM Strategic Growth Fund and advised us to sell our holdings. We completed a dealing form instructing the sale of those holdings and the purchase of holdings in an alternative fund. Unfortunately, the advice from deVere was given far too late and on 22 February 2013, only five months after Nigel Green disposed of his interests in United Asset Management, the Strategic Growth Fund was suspended. Since 27 October 2015, the fund has been in administration with no guarantee of any monies being recovered by investors.

In November 2015 we submitted a complaint to deVere’s customer relations department. We received a response, not from deVere Customer Relations, but from deVere Corporate Legal. In its various responses to our complaint deVere has endeavoured to distance itself from UAM by saying that the Strategic Growth Fund had nothing to do with UAM. Initially deVere stated that the association between the two on the factsheet was solely for marketing purposes. If that were the case then the fund was, at best, being mis-represented.

deVere then changed its stance by stating that “whilst the fund in question may be labelled as the UAM Strategic Growth Fund by SEB Life International in its statements ...” This is a blatant attempt to distort the truth as the insurer at the time of our investment in UAM Strategic Growth Fund in 2010 was Irish Life International Ltd and not SEB. We also have a series of emails directly from deVere at that time which clearly label the fund as being “United Asset Management Strategic Growth Fund”.

Despite admissions by deVere that there was a serious conflict of interest and that there were other faults on its part the deVere Corporate Legal department constantly looks for loopholes and refuses to consider our complaint on its merits.

Through its unethical approach in advising us to invest in funds that were not appropriate for our risk profile, and its poor management, deVere has caused us to suffer a substantial financial loss and years of stress. This situation warrants financial recompense from deVere to compensate us for loss and stress.

deVere Group Reply:
As this fund is the subject of regulatory investigation and possible legal actions by the Administrators, which we would support we are unable to comment further at this time.

deVere is working relentlessly with many parties to find a solution to this matter for the small number of its clients invested into this fund.

We will contact the clients who are invested in this fund once solutions have been found and when we have further updates.

Please feel free to direct any further queries to sgqueries@devere-group.com and we shall be pleased to assist.
View full review
Cons:
  • Questionable advice given environment and customer profile
Reason of review:
Poor customer service
Anonymous
map-marker Dubai, Dubai

DeVere use positive comment 'flooding'

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A word to those looking for information on scams & unethical dealings by DeVere.They engage in careful content management and 'flood' sites like these with their responses which then rank first....knowing that people are lazy researchers.

Google's own research shows 53% of people do not look beyond the first two responses and 89% do not look past page one. They are 'managing' (read: manipulating) this site to bury their sins. This company is the worst of the worst- incapable of change as the corporate culture is rotten top down to bottom. They do employ naïve & desperate sales people who may appear plausible.

Tough times are coming to Dubai (Oct 2016) - hopefully this parasitic company will finally fold in this time- and never be heard of again.

Caute!

deVere Group Reply:
We have no record of any client by this name. If you have a genuine complaint, please email us at clientrelations@devere-group.com
View full review
Reason of review:
parasitic behaviour
Anonymous
map-marker Nicosia, Nicosia

Unhappy with DeVere

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I first started with DeVere when I met one of their consultants in Cyprus,where they were based-all was well at first. They suddenly closed their local office and I was left with no information of who to contact.

4 weeks later I instigated contact with their London office and was able to resume a relationship with DeV . However as time passed I found that I was being passed from various consultants only discovering this when I initiated the contact, by 2015 I spoke to UK as I was not happy with the performance of my portfolio, to be told that at least it was better than the Cypriot Banks!!

4weeks after this I was still waiting for recommendations for my portfolio.

In addition to the above my consultant in Cyprus personally borrowed money from me, then went to their AD office in Middle East, she has not fully repaid this money and now refuses all contact. Suffice to say I have moved elsewhere, and would find it hard to recommend DeV to anyone

deVere Group Reply:
Dear Mr Rugg,

Many thanks for making contact with us.

We are very sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the service you have received from our company.

It is one of our priorities to ensure that client satisfaction is upheld that is why your communication has been referred directly to Kerry Newcombe who has made contact with you last week in order to follow up.

We have updated our records to reflect that you have changed broker however please do make contact with Ms Newcombe should you not receive satisfactory service from your new broker.


View full review
Cons:
  • See my comments
Reason of review:
Poor customer service
Preferred solution:

Let the company propose a solution

Jawanda Phr

Bunch of crooks

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Invested in UAM Strategic Growth fund on advice of your adviser. He told me that it was medium-low risk. I even note that your founder Mr Green played a big part in UAM and knew about this funds executives. Apparently you say you advised investors to leave the fund but I for one never got any such communication.

In fact from inception of policy until I noticed that the fund was suspeneded there was zero communication form your represenatives.

Upshot--Guess what I lost the lot when the fund collapsed. Since then I've sent several emails to your client department and the adviser - latest emails get no reply

Obviously once you've got your pound of flesh the investor doesn't matter anymore

Shame on you!

deVere Group Reply:
Dear Mr Innes,

As this fund is the subject of a potential legal matter we are unable to comment further at this time.

deVere is working relentlessly to find a solution to this matter for the small number of clients invested into this fund.

We will contact the clients who are invested in this fund once we have reached a solution.

Please feel free to direct any further queries to sgqueries@devere-group.com and we shall be pleased to assist.
View full review
Cons:
  • Bad advice
  • Lies
  • High charges
Reason of review:
Poor customer service
Preferred solution:

Let the company propose a solution

Anonymous
map-marker Alicante, Valencia

deVere Group - DEVERE SPAIN SCAM! You lost my life savings and paid yourselves 15%!!!

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I am disgusted to have recently learnt that the devere spain financial advisor who told me to close down my uk investments, which had performed well for over 10 years, and invest my money into UAM Strategic Growth fund earned 7.5% of my life savings before his terrible advice ruined my life!!!! And even worst, my new financial advisor told me he only gets 50% of what devere actually made out of me!

So not only does your crooked CEO own the fund, but your advisors are being paid through the roof to sell it?!

I was assured you were independent and i was being sold that fund because it was the best available. It seems a bit of a coincidence that the best fund available for me in the world is also owned by devere!!!

I tried to sell my investment for nearly 4 months before I was finally told the fund was suspended and i have seen less than 20% of my money returned in several years since. Surprise surprise, the crook who sold it to me, despite still working for devere in spain, is no longer my advisor so wont even answer the phone to me.

Thanks for ruining my life devere spain.

deVere Group Reply:
Dear Mr Anon, we are very disappointed and concerned by your claims as these are issues we take very seriously at our company. Whilst we would like to stress that at no time did deVere Group own the Strategic Growth Fund, we encourage you to contact our Client Relations Department on clientrelations@devere-group.com so that we can investigate your case further.
View full review
Cons:
  • Lies
  • 15percent hidden fees
  • Devere spain
Reason of review:
devere spain ruined my life!
Loss:
$175000
Preferred solution:

Full refund

Anonymous

Devere group from an employees perception ( Dont fall for the trap)

not going to write an essay or anything straight to the point.

Everything the Devere group say is a fraud..

there is no real incentives.

its like working being imprisioned in a cell with no window

no travel cost or accomodations included.

they say Visa takes 3 months and it is done on purpose so you have to spend money from your own pocket..

PLease and i beg my following job hunters who seem to be interested in this so called opportunity of a life time to NOT GO AHEAD WITH IT.

if something sounds to good to be true then it probably isnt.

deVere Group Reply:
We pride ourselves on offering the very best training and support in the business. We promote from within meaning that dedicated people get the chance to reach the very top. Unfortunately in our business, you won’t progress very far if you just let it be, you may even have to work a hard day’s night, but the rewards and opportunities are endless.
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carolyn f Fdg

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| map-marker Paris, Ile-De-France

deVere Group - Avoid at all costs

deVere Group - Avoid at all costs

I was sold a product that is in now way suitable to my needs. I made clear from the outset that I di not understand the paperwork and was trusting the advise my advisor was giving, to me.

She even filled in the forms for me. It is more than clear in my written correspondance with Amanada Bloomfield that I wanted a short term low cost investment, and find myself locked into a high cost investment for 10 years. I have started a complaints procedure, I was initally just told that I had fillen in the forms so that was that. I am awaiting a reply to my second email before contacting the omdudsmun.

I see from the comments I am not the only one with this same problem. Maybe time to act deVere

deVere Group Reply:
Dear Ms Friant,
As a company providing expert independent advice, we take customer satisfaction very seriously and always aim to provide a high-quality service.
As you are aware, your complaint was fully investigated, and based on all paperwork in your and our possession last month, your complaint was found to be without merit.
Should you be able to produce new evidence, complaints can always be reviewed in light of such new evidence.
Regards,
deVere Group
View full review
Cons:
  • Advisor is dangerously bad and no support frm the company
Loss:
$5000
Preferred solution:

take my money out and refund high costs

About

Summary

deVere Group, one of the world’s leading independent financial advisories, has a truly global presence. With offices in over 100 countries serving 80,000 clients worldwide, we endeavour to offer the very finest financial advice available. By teaming up with some of the world’s largest and most trusted investment firms, deVere Group offers clients honest and secure financial planning. We strive to protect and grow the wealth of all our clients worldwide, resulting in over 10 billion funds under administration. Our impeccable training programme ensures that our global consultants are fully qualified, making deVere Group one of the most regulated IFAs in the world.

deVere Group reviews and complaints

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