Chase de Vere hits back against sales culture accusations

The Times wrote about Chase de Vere's annual conference, where advisers that generated the most fees for the company are lauded on stage and its top 10 are awarded with a luxury three-night stay in Cannes with their partners.

Its top adviser, the newspaper reported, earned £670,000 because they brought in £1.31 million in fees last year. To make it onto the top 10 an adviser needed to have generated £723,000 in fees, earning around £360,000 each.

A Chase de Vere adviser also anonymously wrote about the sales driven culture at the firm in The Times at the weekend: "Every business has sales and profitability targets," they said, "but I worry that the emphasis on getting new business at Chase de Vere risks being at the expense of customer care.

"The mantra is so often repeated: advisers should bring a certain level of fees every month. I know I'm not alone in feeling pressured by calls from managers telling us to hit these targets."

The newspaper wrote that, in the same way criticism is being levelled at SJP for its sales targets, charging structure and advisers' pay, Chase de Vere should be under the same spotlight.

In response, Chase de Vere chief executive Stephen Kavanagh said: "We are disappointed that The Times has willingly misrepresented our company culture and operations. The results that we achieve for our clients and the overwhelmingly positive feedback that we receive demonstrates the quality of service provided by our advisers."

Kavanagh, who has been head of the firm for a decade, said the IFA operated in "an entirely transparent and accountable manner, ensuring that our clients are fully informed of our services and associated fees at every step".

"We have robust controls in place to continuously monitor the activity of our advisers to ensure that they, along with all of our employees, operate in the best interests of our clients at all times. Our client focused processes and quality controls ensure that we reward only those employees who are exemplary performers and we are proud to celebrate their achievements for our clients."

Chase de Vere is one of the UK's largest IFAs, managing around £10bn worth of assets.

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