DeVere Group has agreed to sell its South Africa business


deVere

Update 20th December 2019

Since posting this blog, Moneyweb  in South Africa have published an update on the story.

While we cannot comment on the contents, it does reinforce the advice that those who have investments and pensions that were set up by the departing adviser should seek a qualified review as soon as possible.

DeVere Group has agreed to sell its South Africa business- Original Story

International Investment  has announced that DeVere Group is selling its South African business to another company, who will be taking over the clients.

DeVere- the choices

When a financial services company is sold, the clients are automatically transferred to the new buyer. While standard, it means the clients get little choice in the matter and are often then encouraged to take reviews and new products ( sometimes with new lock-in periods).

Therefore, for clients of DeVere South Africa with investments and pensions, it is an opportune time to compare what the new firm has to offer with others in the market.

Key Points

As with any financial services firm, the investor needs to do his/her own due diligence on the firm and this case is no different. While DeVere may be happy with the deal they have brokered for themselves, the fact is they are pulling out of the market and the clients need to make sure that they are happy too!

Therefore, clients need to do their own due diligence on the new firm and others that may be offering their services.

Typical Questions for ex DeVere South African clients

Is the new firm backed by professionally qualified (Chartered/Certified) financial planners with expertise in both pension and investment planning?

Has the new firm actual experience in South Africa?

Has the firm been running for a reasonable number of years?

Can the firm provide evidence of actual fund performance ( net of fees ) rather than simulated back-tested ( i.e. ‘what could have happened if we had invested your money in these funds’), benefit of hindsight graphs?

Anything to be wary of?

Be wary of any firm that recommends an immediate switch out of an insurance bond or funds, that then ties the investor into another period of penalties for early encashment or more upfront charges.

Watch out for firms offering to fund penalties on encashment as an inducement to switch- it means they are making more money elsewhere on the deal and not telling you; there is only one person that will end up paying for that.

 

QROPS South Africa

We have written about this subject before  and would advise anyone that has a QROPS to review this, irrespective of the sale of the business.

 

Summary

Now would be a good time to review QROPS that are held by residents in South Africa. We have a South Africa office, link, and can provide transparent advice on the options .

 

The views expressed in this article are not to be construed as personal advice. You should contact a qualified and ideally regulated adviser in order to obtain up to date personal advice with regard to your own personal circumstances. If you do not then you are acting under your own authority and deemed “execution only”. The author does not accept any liability for people acting without personalised advice, who base a decision on views expressed in this generic article. Where this article is dated then it is based on legislation as of the date. Legislation changes but articles are rarely updated, although sometimes a new article is written; so, please check for later articles or changes in legislation on official government websites, as this article should not be relied on in isolation.

 

This article was republished on 28th November 2019

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