But three peripheral South African offices have been closed, and an earlier plan to open offices across the US has been put on hold, the company said in a statement detailing its plans.
Instead of a pan-US operation,the company said it now plans to focus on making its existing New York office a “super-hub” from which to look after its American clients.
As reported, deVere, which is entering its eleventh year in business, announced in March that it was launching what it said would be a “comprehensive, six-month strategic review” of its global operations. Today’s announcement was said to reflect the findings of this review, as the company, in its words, “moves to consolidate its global business model.”
DeVere Group founder and chief executive Nigel Green said the strategic review – now in its eighth week – was very much still “a work in progress”, with much still remaining to be done before it is complete.
“[Nevertheless], we have already made some decisions regarding expanding our operations in some key growth markets, and streamlining our operations in other regions, in order to further strengthen the deVere Group’s worldwide position as the ‘go-to’ advisory firm for international investors and expatriates,” he added.
DeVere, which is based in Zurich and has key administration offices in Malta and Dubai, is among the world’s largest advisory groups, with more than 70,000 clients, and funds under management and administration of more than $9bn.
Additional 100 IFAs in Cape Town
Today’s announcement reflects a significant shift in approach by deVere towards the African market. This began some months back, when, as reported, the company discontinued an operation it had set up in Kenya, less than a year earlier. It had established the branch, in Nairobi, in June 2012, through a joint venture with Executive & Corporate Advisory Services, led by area manager Gavin Cooper.
Green said deVere is looking to expand its South African presence by recruiting an additional financial advisers in Cape Town and Johannesburg over the next 12 months, even as it is consolidating three of its existing South African offices – in Stellenbosch, Hermanus, and Port Elizabeth – "into larger regional hubs".
Similarly, he noted, deVere had put its original plans to open more offices across the United States "on hold, in order to focus our efforts on the ‘super-hub’ office in New York City, the epicentre of America’s financial services industry".
"We will open our first office in Nigeria – in Lagos, Africa’s second fastest-growing city – and open a second office in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, in early 2014," Green added.
“In addition, we will relocate to larger premises in Dubai within the next year, as we plan to take on an additional 25 consultants in this emirate alone by mid-2014.”
Green said the move to consolidate offices was consistent with what the company had already begun to do in Western Europe, where, he said, the company had "incorporated smaller offices in Belgium and Portugal into our larger, more developed operations in the UK, Germany and Spain", in response to "increased taxation and some major providers leaving the marketplace".
Click here to watch a video interview with deVere’s founder and chief executive Nigel Green
Or click here to read more about Africa in a recent profile
