deVere Group started in 2002 when chief executive Nigel green decided he wanted to create the world’s largest firm of international independent financial advisers to serve a growing niche market of expats living and working overseas.
He figured expats were poorly served by banks and financial services companies and that they needed professional but personal advice to help them manage their money.
The vision was to set up a local advice service to help expats at all stages of their financial lives.
This vision includes introducing a personal independent financial adviser to each client – and with a customer bank of 80,000 people spread across more than 100 countries, that ideal needs a great deal of behind-the-scenes management.
Worldwide operation
deVere Group employs hundreds of IFAs, technical and support staff around the world.
The company has 500 advisers based in 71 countries and plans to double the number of advisers and open more offices, according to CEO Nigel Green.
However, although deVere Group is a global operation, the customer is at the centre of the company’s culture and philosophy.
Teams and services are designed to serve customers rather than slot them into a framework of advice and products that may not match their personal financial goals.
Now, deVere Group manages customer assets of more than $10 billion, which shows that Nigel Green’s original concept filled a tangible gap for expats.
Focus on expats
Working hard on making sure the basics are right is important. deVere Group can help customers with simple products like expat mortgages and life assurance through to complicated retirement planning, Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) and offshore savings and investments.
For customers, the size of deVere Group does matter.
With such a large customer and adviser network, big brands such as Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and the Royal Bank of Scotland have chosen to partner deVere Group by offering exclusive products and services.
For expats, deVere Group solved a problem – where to go for financial advice when local banks and advisers were placing obstacles in the way when they asked for help.
Now, as more people are on the move between countries for work and retirement and governments crack down on cross-border tax, that need for independent and impartial advice is all the more vital.