This summer, the deVere Group purchased Acuma, one of the Gulf region’s most successful and respected wealth management firms.

When news of the acquisition broke I told the media that I was “enthused by the prospect of building on Acuma’s world-class reputation and we’re looking forward to welcoming the company’s talented wealth professionals and support team to the deVere Group family.” 

I went on to add that: “We’re fully committed to investing our time and resources so that they can do even more of what they do best – helping clients achieve their long-term financial objectives.”

Well, that development of the Acuma brand is now in full swing.  This week we’re officially launching in Hong Kong and plans are already in place to expand across the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, next year.

Since the acquisition, and even more so since last week’s press release announcing the expansion across this potentially enormous market, the industry rumour mill has gone into overdrive.

And, perhaps unsurprisingly, some of our competitors and some media outlets are publicly suggesting there are negative motivations for this.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It is, in fact, part of a wholly positive, forward-thinking strategy.

So, let’s be clear: the acquisition and expansion of Acuma is not part of a process to rebrand the deVere Group.  It simply would not be in our interests – indeed it would be foolish – to rebrand one of the world’s largest and most successful financial advisory organisations.

What IS happening then? I believe that to further strengthen our impressive global position and to meet evolving client demands, regulatory requirements and industry trends, our operations should ultimately be run as two separate organisations. Today, different markets demand different recruits, different training, different technical support and different administration support.

One organisation, working across the established, regulated markets, will predominantly focus on wealth management solutions. It will do local and expat business and offer fee-based advice as an alternative to those clients who require it.

Whilst the other will be an international planning organisation, operating in destinations where we believe local products are not suitable for international clients.

This exciting process will be a gradual one, but one that will gather momentum throughout next year.

So confident am I that this dual approach business model is the way the industry is heading – and that it will be an enormous success – I told International Adviser earlier today that I predict that within ten years all major global advisory firms will operate on a similar basis.

Nigel Green deVere Group

Blog written 22nd November