Globe-Spanning British Adviser DeVere Said to Face SEC Probe

Wherever there are British expats with money, there’s a DeVere Group office not far away. And in many of those places, the company’s aggressive sales tactics or high fees have drawn the attention of regulators.

Now the financial-advisory firm, which says it has attracted $12 billion in assets, including more than $500 million in the U.S., is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to five former employees informed of the probe by management before they left. About half of the salesmen in DeVere’s New York office have quit or been fired in recent weeks, they say, and ...