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Protecting expats from scams and their own naivety

By June 3, 2017January 20th, 2020Blog

About 20 years ago I was very nearly trapped by a fraudster who created a plan to save hundreds of thousands from tax. I knew him well, nice chap – he went to prison.

I was saved by an accountant Peter Bonnell, a far better chap, who I think is now retired. Regulation in the UK is now a lot tighter, however, for expats, it really is bandit country, with some well-known groups preying on those away from home.

In Bloomberg, there’s a report on DeVere Group that paints a painful picture.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-24/firm-targeting-nest-eggs-of-u-k-expats-said-to-face-sec-probe

Considering your lead generation to ex-pats, What’s your value proposition to them?

The UK is well regulated and in many cases, the expats country of choice is not. The digital revolution, however, allows UK advisors to advise those overseas. Once expats know their advisor, they are quite happy to deal with you remotely.

Protecting expats from unregulated advisors

I’m not suggesting that ‘protecting expats from unregulated advisors’ is the best strap line. My point is that the essence of the proposition is a value add that expats appreciate.

UK; law firms, property consultants, accountants and financial advisors should be using brand UK to promote their services to expats. In many cases I would go as far as to say, you have to spell out the problem to those living overseas.

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