Mariner Wealth Advisors is suing Savvy Advisors after a number of advisors left for the latter agency. Mariner claims the trio of former workers took commerce secrets and techniques with them.
In its go well with filed in Ohio federal courtroom this week, Mariner claimed former workers Brad Morgan, Nate Kunkel and Tim Gerard, with the assistance of Savvy, stole Mariner’s “confidential buyer data, buyer lists and buyer contact data” and solicited Mariner prospects, ensuing within the agency dropping $60 million in managed belongings.
In response to the criticism, Morgan had been employed at Mariner since 2014 (later changing into an fairness proprietor within the agency), whereas Kunkel and Gerard got here on board in 2018. Morgan, Kunkel and Gerard specialised in working with Proctor & Gamble workers primarily based in Cincinnati (although not completely).
The advisors had entry to Mariner’s consumer data, together with their funding portfolios, threat appetites and knowledge that Mariner believed opponents would wish to entry to lure purchasers away from the agency.
Considered one of these opponents was Savvy, the affiliated RIA for New York-based fintech Savvy Wealth. The agency managed roughly $401 million as of March 31, and Savvy Wealth CEO Ritik Malhorta was one in every of WealthManagement.com’s “Ten to Watch” for 2024. The agency was based in 2022 and, in Mariner’s view, has a progress technique “centered on recruiting established wealth managers with current books of enterprise,” in accordance with the criticism.
“Certainly, moderately than domesticate prospects by way of truthful competitors, Savvy seeks out skilled wealth managers from throughout the nation to poach their books of enterprise from opponents,” the criticism reads. “Savvy does this with out regard to contractual obligations these wealth managers owe to their employers.”
As proof Savvy supposed to focus on Mariner, the latter agency claims Savvy not too long ago closed a job posting primarily based in Mariner’s headquarters of Overland Park, Kan., saying new workers would transition a minimal $15 million AUM guide of enterprise to Savvy.
Within the criticism, Mariner additionally claims Savvy supposed to focus on Proctor & Gamble workers and retirees (together with these serviced by Mariner). Across the time when Savvy recruited the Mariner workers, it added a web page on its web site soliciting enterprise from purchasers affiliated with Proctor & Gamble.
In response to Mariner, Morgan had been planning his defection since April 2024 regardless of signing a brand new non-solicitation and confidentiality settlement that month (Mariner claimed all three advisors had signed such agreements).
Morgan later persuaded Kunkel and Gerard to hitch him at Savvy, and he allegedly spent all of Might 11 forwarding appointments and knowledge from his Mariner e-mail account to a private account. Moreover, Mariner accused Savvy of urging Kunkel to interrupt an settlement that he give 90 days of discover earlier than quitting.
“(Savvy) needed Kunkel to instantly be part of Savvy for (the defendants) to start soliciting and poaching Mariner’s prospects from Mariner and direct them to a well-recognized face at Savvy,” the criticism learn.
Representatives from Savvy and Mariner didn’t reply to requests for remark previous to publication.
The day after Mariner filed its go well with, Savvy introduced that Kunkel, together with three different advisors primarily based in Sioux Metropolis, Iowa, Los Angeles and Tampa, would be part of the corporate.
The accusations in Mariner’s criticism broadly parallel these Edelman Monetary Engines makes in its lawsuit towards Mariner Wealth, which manages greater than $81 billion in consumer belongings. Earlier this week, a federal decide dismissed a few of Edelman’s claims however allowed costs of misappropriation and conspiracy to stay in place because the trial progressed.
