deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations, is to begin a “comprehensive period of restructuring,” the Group’s boss has today announced.

 Nigel Green, the founder and CEO of deVere Group, affirms: “As we move into our fifteenth year, and still dominating the international advisory sector, we have recently embarked on a strategic review of not only our corporate structures but also our operating units. The recent QROPs announcements from the UK will form part of this analysis in the more immediate future.”

In response to the Budget detail on overseas pension transfers, Mr Green issued a statement saying: “It is extremely disappointing that the government sees Britons’ pensions as low hanging fruit they can raid whenever they deem it appropriate.  It seems to forget that it is an individual’s right to transfer their asset to any jurisdiction they see fit and, as such, people should not be penalised should they choose to move it outside the UK for legitimate financial planning reasons.

“Despite the move confirmed in the Budget that will make the transfer process more costly for those outside the European Economic Area – for those within it does not change – many of the fundamental advantages and long-term benefits of QROPS for expatriates remain intact.  Therefore, QROPS will still benefit many people living, or planning to live, overseas and who have a UK pension.”

On the 2017 Strategic Review, the deVere CEO continues: “deVere has become such a large scale global organisation, with offices in a wide variety of different jurisdictions which are all evolving differently and at different speeds.

“The industry is also evolving quicker than ever in terms of regulatory landscapes and clients’ expectations and requirements.

 “The process which we’ve now begun will allow us to take a bird’s eye view perspective of where we need to go as a business in order to maintain and expand on our market-leading position.”

He goes on to say: “It will enable us as a business to see in which areas and markets we need to reduce our presence, where we should invest and develop more quickly and in more depth, and with which products and services.

“The Strategic Review will, no doubt, result in a comprehensive period of restructuring.

“We’re confident that this will provide the blueprint for us to navigate a new, exciting and fast-evolving era within the international advisory space.

“Furthermore, it can be expected that we will be able to provide an enhanced level of protection and service, a broader range of advice, and a more extensive choice of products.

“Indeed, our recently received investment banking licence will allow us to offer new, specialist and innovative financial products and services to help our clients achieve their long-term financial goals.”

In addition to the investment banking licence, earlier this year deVere Group launched its own private bank.

At the time of the launch, Mr Green said: “The move into the private banking sector has been largely driven by demand from clients who are increasingly seeking asset and capital protection and growth, combined with confidentiality.

“deVere Group Bank St Lucia enables us to move beyond traditional banking activities and meet the requirements of clients in an ever more globalised, yet insecure, world.”

The deVere CEO concludes: “The Strategic Review will be completed in a timely manner in order to navigate the fast-changing sector in the best way possible for our clients and the business. It will empower our organisation to stay ahead of the curve, become more streamlined and agile, and further strengthen our market dominance.”