deVere Group reviews

Finance, Taxes, Banking, Insurance and Retirement
1
Now here's a funny thing. Put deVere Group reviews into Google and deVere Group/deVere & Partners seems to have generated lots of positive feedback, judging from top Google results:

deVere Group reviews (Trustpilot): 4.1 out of 5 (55% excellent, 35% bad)

deVere Acuma reviews [Dubai] (Trustpilot): 4.7 out of 5 (86% excellent, 3% bad)

deVere Spain SL reviews (Trustpilot): 4.8 out of 5 (86% excellent, 3% bad)

deVere & Partners Switzerland SA (Trustpilot): 4.7 out of 5 (75% excellent, 2% bad)

Glassdoor [employee reviews]: 4.1 stars out of 5

Indeed [employee reviews]: 3.5 stars out of 5

The media reports (e.g. This Is Money (thisismoney.co.uk), BBC Panorama (youtube.com), International Adviser (international-adviser.com)) are still there if you dig deep enough (e.g. by using Google to search within the site ) and there are what sound like genuine reviews elsewhere, including an apparently steady flow of reviews by ex clients/employees on the Pissed Consumer site.

The deVere Group CEO appears to like Trustpilot. In a video from 2020 ( Making of the deVere Virtual Awards! ) he says (at 0 mins, 30 secs) " our reviews on Trustpilot have been absolutely incredible ". In another ( FAKE REVIEWS EVERYWHERE! ), he appears alongside a Trustpilot image, saying that according to CNN 35% of Amazon reviews are fake (unable to find that report on CNN site ), and that Amazon reviews, positive and occasionally negative, aren't to be trusted as people can be paid to post reviews. He suggests that negative reviews about deVere Group are faked and from competitors. The blurb under the video says " So many people buy goods and services based on reviews. Yet so many are fake ."

So what are we to make of this?

2
People from DeVere call my company switchboard regularly, they ask to speak with me and many of my colleagues..

They say that a friend gave them the details.

When asked which friend they can't remember.

They often tell the switchboard they are internal, just to get put through.

Sometimes I get a call and five minutes later a colleague gets one, then another and another.. We're all in earshot and laughing.

They advertise on WRS radio daily, sound very professional and regulated etc .. But my experience above says it all for me.

3
Let us recall that this company used to advertise on the EF. Sometimes even on the actual threads where people were complaining about them.

Now that we supposedly have s strictly no fake-news policy, I wonder if that extends to banning ads from questionable organizations?

4
"our reviews on Trustpilot have been absolutely incredible"

Well, at least they are honest!

5
I imagine them to work in a low rent version of the Wolf of Wallstreet call centre.

6
You wouldn't want to be the secretary.

7
Never ever, ever agree to something from DeVerre that involves Insurance. They get their commission up front.

8
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9
some people in the devere journey don't actually know what journey they are on. This results in high ratings because the upselling process is smooth and professional.

It's only when the lack of ROI and massive cut become apparent that folk see another side of things.

10
Article in the Sunday Times.

Paywall: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d...uiet-nw7g8dchp

"DeVere offered me £79,000 to keep quiet"

Gary Gilligan lost £23,500 after investing through deVere Group and he wants answers

11
Silly man, he should have taken the $80k

The answers are that they cheat, big time.

12
And integrity and self-respect be blowed? Sure.

13
And these days, what does that get you? -$23,500 or +£79,000? $55,500 would heal my lost pride.

14
Piece in today’s Times:

Expats blame financial firm after losing pension savings

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/5...2e8102028cfe92

”Britons living abroad claim they have lost tens of thousands of pounds from their pensions after being contacted by financial advisers.

NHS nurses and dentists, employees of construction and oil companies, as well as wealthy expats, say they have seen as much as half their savings disappear after being convinced to take out investments by deVere Group, which describes itself as one of the world’s leading financial institutions.

DeVere’s advisers are alleged to have tracked down British people living around the world and then, after approaching them with cold calls, offered help with tax planning for the new country in which they were living...”

Etc.etc

15
The problem is that most of their bad reputation is not based on factual evidence that could be used in a court of law. An awful lot of it is sharp practice, but not illegal and it does happen in many other firms as well. It’s just that it seems to happen more often with them or at least it gets more publicity and that could just be because like everything else about them their offers of compensation are more shoddy than those offered by other firms. And that is based on cases I know about from experience.

I think the UK and the US for that matter, make for very easy targets - large expat communities with a believe that their laws prevail even when they are dealing with UK firms outside the country. The result is that most expats don’t even think of the possibility that they have no comeback in these situations. What is needed is a strong awareness campaign by the UK government highlight the fact that you are on your own in these matters, but I can’t see that happening. Sadly I think all we can do is try to spread the word as widely as we can.