In his additional capacity as the new head of deVere’s Middle East operation following the departure of David Hughes, Green told International Adviser in his Dubai office that his strategic review of the business is not over yet.
“We’re still reviewing, and maybe I need to be doing this permanently. I might be getting ahead of myself, so you’ve got to be a bit careful, but I do personally think the industry is changing quickly and we need to adapt.”
Now spending an estimated 40% of his time in Dubai, based in the city’s marina offices and with a flat on the Palm, his immediate plan is to move towards lots of technology and the new type of adviser he has identified.
Green is also taking further steps to retain clients and staff: “That’s become more and more important. It’s more difficult to gain clients, so let’s retain them. It’s hard to get them so let’s make sure we look after them. You’ve got to retain your good guys. Always has been, even more so now. You can’t afford to lose them.”
“People don’t talk about our successes but deVere looks after many employees of the BBC, AON and Rolls Royce, Scottish TV and Boots.”
Salaried advisers worldwide?
Could that mean a significant move towards salaried advisers at deVere?
“Wow. Yes, that’s an interesting one which I’m looking at. Do we move to a different model? We’ve got that in some parts of the world. There’s nothing perfect though, to be honest with you. I don’t buy ‘one gives bad advice and one doesn’t’ because the banks have had more bad advice than anybody else, and they’ve had salaries there. But you need to move more towards that model, yes.”
Green said he typically tries different approaches and then watches the numbers to see what is working.
“Let’s see what’s being successful with clients, let’s see what’s being successful from a recruitment point of view and a retention point of view. Yes, something we definitely have to look at, no question.”
