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Sorry - this is off topic ... but I have a pension scheme running with Devere - during the reviews my fund manager never shows any interest in considering if I need to make any changes to the investments. Is there any way i can I 'move' my scheme to another financial advisor in a different company or maybe I should be paying another company/advisor to tell me what to request of Devere. The plan has been running for 8 years now so I don't want to pull out, but the investment is important to our family!! Any advice hugely appreciated.

Yes you could but as the commission has already been paid to DVP and they will get any fund trail fees ongoing for full term. There will not be much interest in the market unless you have a fair amount of money in a lump sum product. In any case any new adviser will probably switch the funds just to make some commission without really looking at what you have got and if that is a good move, get the fund ISIN codes and put them in to goole or morningstar to see how they compare to other funds.

Managing your own bond is quite easy and frankly the level of actual investment knowledge at most of this type of firm is crap, so your guy more likely has no bright ideas as he does not actually understand what to do.

Some thoughts for you.

Is it lump sum or regular payment?

Who is the bond provider?

Are you still based outside UK or onshore?

Post this info and I will give you some further details as to options if you want?

Thanks - I see your point. I'll do some research. I am making regular monthly payments into Royal Skandia products (USD Inv GS Glb Strat Equity/ USD Balanced/ GBP JPM Emg Mkt Inv Tst USD). We are based off-shore and are likely to remain offshore for another 3 years or so - at the moment have about 90,000 USD in the fund. Many, many thanks !

http://www.skandia.co.uk/funds/fundinfo/index.htm

Have a look at above link, select your plan and this will give you a profile of your allocated funds  and the other funds that you can use as well. Your product is a closed fund, by that I mean you do not have access to whole of market but a range of selected funds. Get the ISIN code and then look on the net. Frankly that is a pretty small range of funds you have, some China A Class and India and also latin funds would be worth a look and also something property like Mansion.

Being in USD you have a massive choice of investments, but I see you also have some GBP as well, take care with currency in terms with what might happen with the exchange rates at the time you want the money.

No other adviser really would take over that type of product without you putting more a month away so that they could get commission, but you could switch to a lump sum or similar to give better investment control and the ability to stop monthly premiums but care with any fees to cancel out what you have.

Hopefully some of that might help you a bit!

Thank you ! Really appreciate your thoughts.

Not a problem, I have picked up a lot of DVP and similar clients that have been given bad advice and left without any real support but it is a thankless task as you can't earn any money out of it so tend to advise for free these days but not take on the client as it makes little financial sense.

Of course you could appoint RSK to manage with one of their management portfolios.

Does anyone have any info about a company called "International Advisors" running out of Mexico City, Cancun and Guadalajara? I have an offer with them and whilst I understand the general state of the industry I was wondering if they are different at all with regards to things like office costs and general treatment of staff. A few of the guys seemed to work for a company called Caledonian International Consulting, which was Mexico based and recently defunct.

Many thanks.

Now defunct, says it all. Never heard of them but be careful working in those areas as I have heard of problems so unless you know the area really well my advice stay away.

See if they are part of a network and ask for references from fund managers and life offices if you intend to go ahead.

In essence you will have no control and can be got rid of in an instant.

Sorry to be so full of Christmas cheer!

Be extremely careful, they have the ethics of sewer rats. Best con artists I've come across. Disgusting people!! Go with a reputable company. The trouble is some major institutions support as thy don't care about how they get business just as long as they get it. I know so many people who have been ripped off by them. I know from some ex employees that they are after the CEO, Nigel Green that he needs constant security. Absolute scum bags!!

Go to pissedcomsumer.com and make your own mind up ?

Please don't trash Nigel Green, he's a swell guy.

http://www.simply-photography.co.uk/etography ... cbb3c&java=true

Money well spent? p. 50
VIP guest p. 56
One manager's takings p. 66
Money well spent? p. 80
Annual takings p. 83

Hey there, I have recently been to an interview/meeting for the DeVere group, where I had to go to Manchester.
They say I'll be more suited to Moscow and wanted me to go out in a matter of weeks.
However I have stuck to my guns, and said that i'll be ready in June when I have a couple of Grand to spare.
They say they will sort my business visa, flights and accommodation is already there, also that i'll be met and taken to and from the airport to the accommodation.
I have been "TOLD" that I will work on a base salary of £1500 per month, then 5 percent of any commission made, can anyone shine any light on this and tell me if the area and affairs are in order.

The job is; Financial sales coordinator.
I'm a great salesman, and can see through the BS. And it all seems rather far fetched to an extent.

Kind regards.

"They say I'll be more suited to Moscow ..."

Er... this is from a discussion about the Moscow office that appeared online a few years ago:

"They apparently all come from real dodgey backgrounds .....one is an woolworths security gaurd,the other guy with tatoos allover himself is an ex stripper in a boy bar and belive it or not the partner is an ex -fisherman."

Probably long gone by now (shame!). Current crop:
http://ru.viadeo.com/en/search/rcl/ru/deVere/en/

I went to one of these so called seminar/presentation the other day and listened to a guy called Andy Chalklin for over 2 hours talking about destinations and how much money can be made. Sounded good at first but the more I heard the more the reality sank in...

They don't have any offices in countries with strict immigration rules like Australia for example coincidentally they don't claim to guarantee any accommodation or financial security. (Look up Visa rules for Australia).

From the two hours this fella was spouting, he touched on products for about 90 seconds, considering that they have a wealth of products that are unique to the Devere Group this was a bit light to say the least and the product he did touch on was something called a guarantee equity bond, which pays out 10% PA as long as FTSE doesn't fall below 50%. When he was asked if it was guilt backed, he said and quote "No its from Morgan Stanley" Well I nearly pissed myself at this, then when he was asked how does the product achieve such income, he was quite defensive and proclaimed that it was unique to Devere group and it's not available in the UK, hence why we would not of heard about it and quickly moved back to talking about big commissions and fast cars.

Having over 10 years in Financial Services, I felt that the material offered gave no details of the products they provide and not sure if you can really have a clients best interests at heart if you can train someone from outside of the financial services in wide range of products during the course of a week.

To me the Devere Group seem to be only operating in places where a lack of Financial Regulations permits this kind of sales process.

Whilst I have no doubt that you can make alot of money working for Devere, I envisage that it would depend on what kind of person you are... If like myself you are proud of your financial background with strong ideals of ethics then it's not for you. On the other hand if you don't understand anything about the Financial Services Sector or code of conduct and just want to make shed loads of cash with out worrying about the actual implications of advising someone on something you know nothing about, then go for it.

Just an honest opinion... Only a matter of time before someone from Devere ends up in Jail, or worse; dead.

I wont be taking my opportunity any further.

No reference online to "equity bonds" from Devere, but they claim to offer "autocallable notes" from Morgan Stanley: http://www.nigel-green.com/2012/11/15/structured-notes/
Strange that the guy at the presentation should not have said more. Though Morgan Stanley does sell autocallable products in the UK (http://www.morganstanleyiq.co.uk/EN/Product_overview.html) and has terms of business for IFAs in the UK (http://www.morganstanleyiq.co.uk/EN/showpage.asp?pageid=170), the only source of claims online that Devere sells MS products (outside the UK where Devere does most of its business), is Devere itself. From the MS website:

"You further confirm that you are an Independent Financial Advisor, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom. ... The products included on these sites are intended for distribution within the United Kingdom; no action has been taken that would enable the sale or offer of these products into any other jurisdiction. In particular, no product on this site is available for distribution or sale in the United States or to US persons (as defined in the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 or the U.S. Internal Revenue Code)."
http://www.morganstanley.com/drma/terms.html

Since Devere has an FSA-authorised UK branch (that may or may not actually deal with clients in the UK), maybe you could cross-check with the FSA about what you were told at the presentation.

Would be interesting to know if, when a Devere client buys what they think is an Morgan Stanley autocallable note, that is in fact what it is. Presumably what is going on is nothing like this: http://www.sec.gov/divisions/enforce/primebank.shtml

I'm sure we're talking about the same Devere group and fully aware they have a UK office, which I'm sure would stand up to scrutiny... The issue is how they conduct themselves in other jurisdictions targeting expat workers.

These guys do not know what they are talking about when it comes to the technical knowledge of a product and do not understand how a product is structured and don't care about anything other than the commission.

I would be very careful if I was MS as they throwing your name around to try and impress people. If still not sure about who it is then this is their link https://www.devere-group.com/ 

I would advise sending them a CV so that you can go to one of their seminars, if nothing else you'll have a good laugh.

Very expensive city my friend, you will be living like a dog.

Very expensive city my friend, you will be living like a dog.

Someone has moved to "Fund Advisers"

From: http://www.ifalife.com/members/profile.asp?UserID=19306 

“Mr Spencer Lodge
Qualifications: FAIQ - CII
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Date Joined: Saturday, January 05, 2013 | 12:49:55
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Country: United Arab Emirates

About me: I have lived in 10 countries in the 19 years I have spent perfecting financial services sales management and leadership. I have been responsible for creating the largest and most successful sales force in the international financial services arena. My specialist areas include sales motivation and inspirational leadership. I have a proven track record that is second to none in international wealth management and the inspirational sales leadership industry.”