Global Eye / PIC / DeVere / Acuma et al - Zurich Vista UAE
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Kuwait
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Hi Dona
Perhaps the first thing to do is cancel any future payments so that the sum-at-risk is capped at the three contributions that you have made so far. You should contact your bank immediately in this regard.
You should write to Zurich and advise that you will be making no further payments at this time as you believe that the policy was not suitable for you. Do not cancel the policy at this time, but tell Zurich that you will be seeking a full rebate of all monies paid.
The next step will involve engaging with deVere. In order to give you better advice in this regard can you please say what country you live in (and did you buy the policy from deVere in that country)?
You might find that deVere will contact you before you contact them. This is because the day you signed the Zurich documentation Zurich paid deVere (and deVere paid your "adviser") thousands of dollars - possible up to $18,000 or more. Zurich will now want to claw that back, and the "adviser", who has no doubt already spent his/her share, will desperately want you to keep up the payments.
If you are contacted by deVere I strongly suggest that you say that you are happy to engage with them, but only in writing. Everything from now on must be documented. No meetings, no cups of coffee etc.
Please let me know what country you are in.
Perhaps the first thing to do is cancel any future payments so that the sum-at-risk is capped at the three contributions that you have made so far. You should contact your bank immediately in this regard.
You should write to Zurich and advise that you will be making no further payments at this time as you believe that the policy was not suitable for you. Do not cancel the policy at this time, but tell Zurich that you will be seeking a full rebate of all monies paid.
The next step will involve engaging with deVere. In order to give you better advice in this regard can you please say what country you live in (and did you buy the policy from deVere in that country)?
You might find that deVere will contact you before you contact them. This is because the day you signed the Zurich documentation Zurich paid deVere (and deVere paid your "adviser") thousands of dollars - possible up to $18,000 or more. Zurich will now want to claw that back, and the "adviser", who has no doubt already spent his/her share, will desperately want you to keep up the payments.
If you are contacted by deVere I strongly suggest that you say that you are happy to engage with them, but only in writing. Everything from now on must be documented. No meetings, no cups of coffee etc.
Please let me know what country you are in.
Gentleman Aviator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Dubai
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I was foolish enough to sign up for one of these plans a few years ago. Fortunately I never have all of my investment eggs in one basket so was paying much less into the plan than the maximum. Once I realised what was happening I cut and ran. I calculate that I have lost circa 10000USD which is enough to be annoying but isn't really life damaging. I now view it as an expensive lesson in expat money management and I will not make the same mistake again.
I work in a field completely unrelated to aviation but I used to be an aircraft engineer and I still maintain my PPL as well as an interest in aviation. I read these pages because often they contain useful advice about general living in Dubai, this thread being an example. Thanks to Yorkshire Pudding and others as it was only after seeing this thread that my suspicions were confirmed that I was being ripped off.
I've not anything else to add other than to reiterate what others have said i.e. do not touch these schemes with a barge pole.
I work in a field completely unrelated to aviation but I used to be an aircraft engineer and I still maintain my PPL as well as an interest in aviation. I read these pages because often they contain useful advice about general living in Dubai, this thread being an example. Thanks to Yorkshire Pudding and others as it was only after seeing this thread that my suspicions were confirmed that I was being ripped off.
I've not anything else to add other than to reiterate what others have said i.e. do not touch these schemes with a barge pole.
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Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: DUBAI
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Anyone claims from Zurich life insurance?
Firstly! Thank you all for comments on De Vere and Zurich Vista. You are right, the salesman was trying hard to sell it to me. Surely not going for that.
Me and my husband have a joint life insurance policy with Zurich for life and ciritical illness. Has anyone got any payments from Zurich for life or ciritical illness? Appreciate replies.
Me and my husband have a joint life insurance policy with Zurich for life and ciritical illness. Has anyone got any payments from Zurich for life or ciritical illness? Appreciate replies.
There's a rash of them in Hong Kong as well. A recent increase in regulation in the UK has forced some of the worst ones to seek victims where the regulation is lax, or non existent.
Join Date: Sep 2017
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Hi Everyone.
I'm not a pilot I'm ATC at SHJ. I got into a fund with Friends Provident through Devere back in 2014. I had the 20 yr plan. I never reached beyond my 18 month initial payments because I raised the amount I put in a year after joining. I stopped all payments middle of last year Thank God. But I've been letting the fund just sit there. It's not earning or losing. I put in a total of $25 thousand US Dollars over that time. The statements are saying its worth $34 thousand now. I just started research on this topic last night and have been up for 7 hours straight in front of my laptop researching these overseas scams and reading a lot from Andrew Hallam and his advice. Bought the book on Kindle.
I just found your thread here on the topic. Thanks for the great info here. I'm going to take out what I can even if its $500 dollars and just take the hit on the rest. $25k is a lot of money to just give away to someone but to take the pain and heartache off my back its worth it. I'll make it back in salary in a few months. That's how you have to look at it. There's so many stories out there of people losing over $70 thousand dollars but they knew it was worth it to just get out. Now Devere is Acuma, I sent an email to Acuma in Dubai and it got returned address does not exist. Now its being taken over by that RB company.. RB122432 whatever the hell..
I have a co worker that is with Zurich I told him about all of this last night, I told him stop sending them money right now. Look at this crap..its a scam..I just hope he heeds my advice.
I'm not a pilot I'm ATC at SHJ. I got into a fund with Friends Provident through Devere back in 2014. I had the 20 yr plan. I never reached beyond my 18 month initial payments because I raised the amount I put in a year after joining. I stopped all payments middle of last year Thank God. But I've been letting the fund just sit there. It's not earning or losing. I put in a total of $25 thousand US Dollars over that time. The statements are saying its worth $34 thousand now. I just started research on this topic last night and have been up for 7 hours straight in front of my laptop researching these overseas scams and reading a lot from Andrew Hallam and his advice. Bought the book on Kindle.
I just found your thread here on the topic. Thanks for the great info here. I'm going to take out what I can even if its $500 dollars and just take the hit on the rest. $25k is a lot of money to just give away to someone but to take the pain and heartache off my back its worth it. I'll make it back in salary in a few months. That's how you have to look at it. There's so many stories out there of people losing over $70 thousand dollars but they knew it was worth it to just get out. Now Devere is Acuma, I sent an email to Acuma in Dubai and it got returned address does not exist. Now its being taken over by that RB company.. RB122432 whatever the hell..
I have a co worker that is with Zurich I told him about all of this last night, I told him stop sending them money right now. Look at this crap..its a scam..I just hope he heeds my advice.
Join Date: Mar 2016
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Hi
Ignore the value on the statements that you are receiving, that is probably inclusive of the worthless Initial Contribution Period units. Send an email to Zurich and ask them for an encashment value.
Ignore the value on the statements that you are receiving, that is probably inclusive of the worthless Initial Contribution Period units. Send an email to Zurich and ask them for an encashment value.
I have used Zurich for home and motor insurance and found them to be non combative when it came to honoring any legitimate claims , all paid in a timely fashion with minimal fuss . As for life insurance a personal recommendation would be to only purchase the most basic term life insurance and invest the payments saved yourself , or put it under the mattress in Swiss Francs .
I have to add that I lived in Switzerland . These overseas franchises are often not subject to rigorous regulation ... and might even be trading on a well known brand name with no connection whatsoever to the company they purport to represent . An indication of this common scam might be familiar yet spurious branding e.g Xurich or Zurich Advance etc .
Life insurance and double glazing sales personnel are remarkably similar ... avoid ! and save your money .
I have to add that I lived in Switzerland . These overseas franchises are often not subject to rigorous regulation ... and might even be trading on a well known brand name with no connection whatsoever to the company they purport to represent . An indication of this common scam might be familiar yet spurious branding e.g Xurich or Zurich Advance etc .
Life insurance and double glazing sales personnel are remarkably similar ... avoid ! and save your money .
Sorry forgot to add , if you are buying life insurance " with profits " first of all don't ! and if you feel you simply must . then deal directly with the company .... no third parties ! Especially not in the ME
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This is a slightly complicated response, but bear with me and I will try to explain some key market features.
There are two broad categories of insurance – life and non-life. Insurance companies can offer one or the other, but not both (though life and general insurance companies can have a common owner, such as in the Zurich Group).
Non-life insurance (or general insurance) covers risks such as home, motor, travel, property, liability etc. Non-life insurance products have a term of 1 year typically, and pay out if defined losses occur. From a consumer’s perspective it offers peace of mind even if no loss occurs and compensation if a loss does occur.
Life insurance, as the name suggests, is the insurance of a life (or joint lives). There are two different types – one of which we might call conventional, and the other is investment linked.
A conventional life insurance policy will pay out a sum of money in the event of the death of the insured person. These types of policies are usually used to ensure that a family is not left destitute by the death of parents, or to ensure that a mortgage is paid off if the borrower dies. Like general insurance, conventional life assurance offers peace of mind even if no loss occurs and compensation if a loss does occur.
The second type of life insurance is an investment linked policy. This is very different to other types of insurance, and this is the type of insurance sold by deVere and other similar firms.
In some respects an investment linked policy is like any other investment, you can invest a lump-sum, or regular savings. However what you are buying is legally an insurance policy. In the event of the death of the policyholder (or investor) the insurance company will pay out (typically) 101% ofthe value of the sum invested. That extra 1% is the only insurance element, but it is sufficient to meet the definition of an insurance policy.
Investors often think that they own a portfolio of funds issued by various fund managers. This is not true, what they own is an insurance policy, the value of which is linked to those funds, but they do not own those funds.
These types of investment linked policies used to be widespread, but they are dying out because the outrageously expensive and opaque charging structures have been outlawed in most developed markets. They are still offered by insurance companies operating (usually) out of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. However they cannot be sold in those jurisdictions – this junk is for export only! They are usually sold by commission salesmen/saleswomen in poorly regulated countries.
So referring back to your post – the general insurance products that you bought were issued by a Zurich-branded general insurance company, probably established in Switzerland or a well-regulated onshore EU jurisdiction.
The Zurich investment products that deVere and others sell are issued by Zurich International Life Limited in the Isle of Man, a completely different company, offering completely different products, and governed (as far as the sales process is concerned) by no law.
There are two broad categories of insurance – life and non-life. Insurance companies can offer one or the other, but not both (though life and general insurance companies can have a common owner, such as in the Zurich Group).
Non-life insurance (or general insurance) covers risks such as home, motor, travel, property, liability etc. Non-life insurance products have a term of 1 year typically, and pay out if defined losses occur. From a consumer’s perspective it offers peace of mind even if no loss occurs and compensation if a loss does occur.
Life insurance, as the name suggests, is the insurance of a life (or joint lives). There are two different types – one of which we might call conventional, and the other is investment linked.
A conventional life insurance policy will pay out a sum of money in the event of the death of the insured person. These types of policies are usually used to ensure that a family is not left destitute by the death of parents, or to ensure that a mortgage is paid off if the borrower dies. Like general insurance, conventional life assurance offers peace of mind even if no loss occurs and compensation if a loss does occur.
The second type of life insurance is an investment linked policy. This is very different to other types of insurance, and this is the type of insurance sold by deVere and other similar firms.
In some respects an investment linked policy is like any other investment, you can invest a lump-sum, or regular savings. However what you are buying is legally an insurance policy. In the event of the death of the policyholder (or investor) the insurance company will pay out (typically) 101% ofthe value of the sum invested. That extra 1% is the only insurance element, but it is sufficient to meet the definition of an insurance policy.
Investors often think that they own a portfolio of funds issued by various fund managers. This is not true, what they own is an insurance policy, the value of which is linked to those funds, but they do not own those funds.
These types of investment linked policies used to be widespread, but they are dying out because the outrageously expensive and opaque charging structures have been outlawed in most developed markets. They are still offered by insurance companies operating (usually) out of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. However they cannot be sold in those jurisdictions – this junk is for export only! They are usually sold by commission salesmen/saleswomen in poorly regulated countries.
So referring back to your post – the general insurance products that you bought were issued by a Zurich-branded general insurance company, probably established in Switzerland or a well-regulated onshore EU jurisdiction.
The Zurich investment products that deVere and others sell are issued by Zurich International Life Limited in the Isle of Man, a completely different company, offering completely different products, and governed (as far as the sales process is concerned) by no law.
Join Date: Apr 2008
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I got suckered in by one of these DeVere scams when I first joined five years ago. It lost money pretty heavily for the first three years then rebounded well when the markets were buoyant to around a 14% gain. Thing is with the fees as high as they are I'll get stung again if the markets turn.
I've been working with Aly Ramzi at Mondial to transfer my money away from the unscrupulous and uncaring DeVere and into Mondials portfolio. Aly doesn't have any vested interests in screwing anybody over and is in a good place to advise on wether to stay in and reduce your fund charges to the minimum or bail out and take the upfront penalty and attempt to rebuild with your remaining money using the C fund or other low-charge platforms that do not require regular defined contributions that penalise you for not paying!
I won't put his direct email on here due to the obvious spambot implications but those of you with Mondial advisors can probably work it out or alternatively PM me, same if you have any further questions.
I can assure you I have no vested interest here but to recommend an avenue of help for anybody who finds themselves bitten by these cretinous companies and their toxic products.
I've been working with Aly Ramzi at Mondial to transfer my money away from the unscrupulous and uncaring DeVere and into Mondials portfolio. Aly doesn't have any vested interests in screwing anybody over and is in a good place to advise on wether to stay in and reduce your fund charges to the minimum or bail out and take the upfront penalty and attempt to rebuild with your remaining money using the C fund or other low-charge platforms that do not require regular defined contributions that penalise you for not paying!
I won't put his direct email on here due to the obvious spambot implications but those of you with Mondial advisors can probably work it out or alternatively PM me, same if you have any further questions.
I can assure you I have no vested interest here but to recommend an avenue of help for anybody who finds themselves bitten by these cretinous companies and their toxic products.
Join Date: Mar 2016
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Hi Flex
I have to tell you to be extremely cautions - and I'm going to be brutally blunt - you know as much about financial services as I do about flying airplanes - nothing. While I don't dispute your assessment of DeVere, there is a very big danger that you will jump out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Let's do a little forensic due diligence on Mondial.
Firstly, their website seems to be out of operation:
https://www.mondialdubai.com/
Secondly, I can find no trace of Aly Ramzi - his LinkedIn page seems to have been taken down.
Ask him for a copy of his terms of business, and a copy of the prospectus of the C plan - let's take a look under the hood.
BTW, the value of your existing plan is the money that you would get if you sold it. Ignore the fake values that you get on your statements. Email the insurance company and ask for the current encashment value.
Regards
I have to tell you to be extremely cautions - and I'm going to be brutally blunt - you know as much about financial services as I do about flying airplanes - nothing. While I don't dispute your assessment of DeVere, there is a very big danger that you will jump out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Let's do a little forensic due diligence on Mondial.
Firstly, their website seems to be out of operation:
https://www.mondialdubai.com/
Secondly, I can find no trace of Aly Ramzi - his LinkedIn page seems to have been taken down.
Ask him for a copy of his terms of business, and a copy of the prospectus of the C plan - let's take a look under the hood.
BTW, the value of your existing plan is the money that you would get if you sold it. Ignore the fake values that you get on your statements. Email the insurance company and ask for the current encashment value.
Regards
L'enfant Terrible
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JJ, just for background info if you’re unaware, Mondial are retained by Emirates for consulting on the company’s provident fund. Each pilot is eligible for a twice-yearly consultation meeting.
Join Date: Mar 2016
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Well, that is good, but employers do not have a fantastic track record in looking out for their employees best interests.
I am not referring to Mondial here, but I have come across situations where the basis of awarding investment advisory/consulting contracts in relation to employee benefits was not the quality of the adviser but the quantity of the kick-back to whoever had the decision power.
Mondial is a regulated entity (the UAE SEC - and that is welcome) but that factor, and the consulting role Mondial has in relation to the company’s provident fund, does not give it a free pass when it comes to scrutinizing the fees and charges that come with its services.
In the long run the single most decisive factor in determining the value of your investments is not the skills of the advisor (most can't beat the market, and it is impossible to know which ones will), nor even market movements (because in the long run these tend to smooth out) but it is the amount of money that is taken out of your investment in fees, charges, commissions etc.
I am not referring to Mondial here, but I have come across situations where the basis of awarding investment advisory/consulting contracts in relation to employee benefits was not the quality of the adviser but the quantity of the kick-back to whoever had the decision power.
Mondial is a regulated entity (the UAE SEC - and that is welcome) but that factor, and the consulting role Mondial has in relation to the company’s provident fund, does not give it a free pass when it comes to scrutinizing the fees and charges that come with its services.
In the long run the single most decisive factor in determining the value of your investments is not the skills of the advisor (most can't beat the market, and it is impossible to know which ones will), nor even market movements (because in the long run these tend to smooth out) but it is the amount of money that is taken out of your investment in fees, charges, commissions etc.