I have seen much comments about DeVeres...anyone have any experience with WorldWide Broker and their financial services offerings?
Any insights from experience greatly appreciated.
thanks
PA

up. Also looking for insights and experience with Worldwide Brokers. Their target market seems to be English speaking expats, so I am wondering if anybody here can share some experiences.

I use Internaxx (internaxx.lu)

As a "burned victim" of one of these so-called financial advisories, I have become very skeptical of the entire industry.

Retail banks are a necessary evil, but investment banks, financial advisers and other "get rich quick" schemes are designed to take your money and make someone else rich, so I now avoid them like the plague.

same 5h!t different name....

If they provide a service, ask what the service is, and what it will cost you to enter, maintain and exit the investment. The only way these brokers make money from a small sample of retail investors is to have a 5h!t load of them or to charge them a 5h!t load. You work out which they do it

As far as I am aware the internaxx are excution only i.e. you must decide what to buy. I have certanly never spoken to anybody about what to buy and nobody has ever contacted me with "The deal of a lifetime".

I just copied this from their website
Your International Offshore Broker in Luxembourg

Internaxx is a premium offshore bank for international investors and expatriates. Realise your investment goals with online access to Stocks, CFDs, Futures and Forex trading on 17 exchanges worldwide. Manage your money conveniently with our Multi-Currency Accounts. And take advantage of our 0% entry-fee investment funds. Internaxx is a member of the Aaa-rated TD Bank Group.

I fully agree, and always want to be in charge of my own money.

However a good friend of mine had some meetings with WorldWide Brokers and by what she told me it sounded rather vague. I advised her to avoid it if the products and conditions are not 100% clear, but she seems to like their ideas. Of course it is not really my business, but since I never heard of this company before, I thought it would be a good idea to check here...

Working for a Swiss based online bank myself (execution only), I have been approached many times as well by advisers. I obviously prefer to do it myself but if you are looking for an adviser, I would check not only what are the direct fees but mainly try to find out how much the management fees are inside the financial products you are shown, check also if there are exit fees in case you need your money earlier. And be wary of new funds without a track record. Don't get signed into long term commitments that are expensive to get out. Try to see if you cannot buy a similar fund directly yourself (Morningstar is a good independent reference). A lot of people buy ETF's (passive funds that track a certain index or industry or asset class) as they have the lowest management fees and you can buy and sell them at any time on the market. Not everyone is out to get you but it is true that one has to be very careful. Best regards. Patrick

a) I have been trading stocks for over 15 years and have never heard of them.

b) They seem to be a small independent. As a rule of thumb, you want to be with a larger institution, so they dont go under because they lost a million $.

c) Read the Chairman's bio on the web site. Does not inspire confidence.

Short answer. I'd stay away.

Looking at their job opportunities gives the game away!AVOID

Worldwide Broker where in Spain until recently and have left passing their clients onto another company, about 90% of the investments they did for people are now in frozen funds which have lost about 40% before that so i would stay away.

The address they have on their website is not for them even its another company whos regulation they used to come under who they now passed the clients onto.

After this tread being brought to my attention I felt it necessary to respond in the capacity as the Managing Partner of WorldWideBroker Zurich.

It is really sad to read comments that are completely false or at best misleading, considering we work incredibly hard as a unit to create a positive reputation within the Zurich region.

I have to make clear that nobody in the above thread has had any experience working with WorldWideBroker Zurich & I’m pretty sure haven’t with any of our WorldWideBroker group offices.


Firstly, I will address Dino. His advice is to stay away based on the fact we are small. He clearly doesn’t have any understanding of our business model. WWB do not hold or handle client funds, we simply provide a consulting service incorporating general financial planning principles. Our clients work directly with 3rd party product providers such as banks, insurance companies & asset management firms. We do not provide trading accounts or handle client funds like ‘Dino’ has insinuated.

JamesAG
There are many financial advisers, like doctors, lawyers, accountants we are not all the same. JamesAG does not have any experience working with us and clearly has zero understanding of our business.

The Love Doctor
Apart from your ill informed opening comment your points concerning relevant questions to ask before engaging in our (or any) service are relevant.
All people of course ask these questions as a matter of course and we provide clear transparent information both through explanation & in writing whether it’s a mortgage, investment, Pension or insurance solution.

Fatmanfilms
This comment is meaningless. Our website states the following:
“WorldWideBroker is seeking to expand its exiting distribution by recruiting qualified, experienced advisers to join our team of professionals…”

Not sure what Fatman expects from financial advisory group?


Swans1984
These comments are simply untrue. Firstly, only part of our business is focused on the investment part of financial planning and we mostly work with large asset management firms such as Fidelity, Templeton, HSBC, Blackrock etc
Although many aggressive investments did fall during 2008 (GFC) most markets have recovered and to say that 90% of our client’s investments are frozen is completely false without foundation. It is true that some of our Spanish team did leave the group 2 years ago however this was completely amicable and some of our clients chose to continue to work with their adviser and some remain with WWB.


Finally, I’d like to add that I have worked as a financial adviser in Switzerland for 5 years and I have many clients that would be happy to testify to our care and attention. Our business model is not for everyone but certainly we do provide very real net benefits to high earning/high net worth individuals from an international prospective.

Finally, these forums should be used in a more responsible way, if there is real evidence of neglect or incompetence then this should be brought to light. When unfounded it’s not enough to simply lay slander based on an ideological view or unconnected bitter experience exemplified by this weeks BBC Newsnight debacle.

If anybody would like to contact me on the above comments then my email address and telephone number is available on our website.

Robert Midgley
Managing Partner WWB Zurich

Robert,
Thanks. But no thanks.

Complaint
Trading name of Blacktower Financial Management

Blacktower and WorldWideBroker are legal separate entities but have certain strategic alliances in place. Your link simply shows that Blacktower are authorised & regulated. This is common in all industries...

Your 2nd link simply is an ex-disgruntled employee. What's your point? This is the first time I have ever joined a forum like this & I'm shocked at the negativity especially that we have never met or had a business relationship of any type.

Unfortunately I simply don't have time to consistently rebut meaningless chatter. ...and Sean Connery you don't have anything to reject - I haven't made you an offer...

Rob

Wow. A personal attack, even though you don't know me or my story.

You are right, I have no experience working with you, nor do I plan to gain any such experiences.

The experiences I have had with financial "advisers" were expensive and highly educational. Yes, there are probably some fine advisers out there, but they are like needles in a huge haystack. The best way to find them is to burn the whole thing to the ground and sift through the ashes.

Your offer:
My refusal:
Together they provide clarity on this matter:
Please add me to your Do Not Call list. Thanks.

Good to see WorldWideBroker is registered with the AFM in Holland.

So far as I can understand from reading the Dutch language AFM site WorldWideBroker is authorised to offer life insurance advice outside of Holland to a list of EU countires that does not include Switzerland (CH is of course not an EU country). Did I understand correctly?

Sorry to hear that James - I'm not aware of your personal circumstances and I'm certainly not responsible for them and I would urge you to name & shame the culprit and report them to their regulator & make a claim via the relevant ombudsman service.

Why attack me and my small unit in Zurich?

wow this thread is becoming more and more interesting, thanks for all your contributions! And thanks also to Robert, for sharing his side of the story.

I do acknowledge that most comments are based on experiences with other financial advisors, but it strikes me that there are no clients of WWB here. I would think that if this is a renowned institution targeting expats, there would be some clients on this forum willing to share their true experiences with this particular broker.

I will show the comments to my friend, tell her to be cautious but in the end it is entirely up to her.