Pat Donachie

5 days ago | wealthmanagement.com | Pat Donachie

Mercer Global Advisors is suing two former employees, accusing them of illegally enticing Mercer clients after the duo left to form their own RIA. In a lawsuit filed this week in Georgia federal court, Mercer accused Ryan Malec and David Weitz of an “unlawful scheme to misappropriate Mercer’s trade secrets and improperly solicit clients” after leaving the firm in 2023 to found the Atlanta-based Unified Investment Management.

5 days ago | wealthmanagement.com | Pat Donachie

During an earnings call, CEO Rich Steinmeier said LPL was in line to retain 90% of Commonwealth advisors, while CFO Matt Audette said it would be “challenging” for smaller firms to counter LPL’s scale. LPL Financial is “in line” to meet its 90% advisor retention rate goal for Commonwealth Financial Network advisors after announcing the acquisition at the end of March, according to CEO Rich Steinmeier.

6 days ago | wealthmanagement.com | Pat Donachie

In a motion filed this week, unnamed advisors who left Ameriprise for LPL claimed they did not agree to a court order that their personal devices could be examined, stating it risked “invasion of their privacy and the trampling of their rights.”Advisors at the center of the ongoing legal battle between Ameriprise and LPL Financial are asking a federal court to stay the lawsuit while FINRA arbitration proceeds.

1 week ago | wealthmanagement.com | Pat Donachie

A former bank branch advisor with Charles Schwab is suing the company, claiming it ignored sex and age discrimination allegations she raised about her manager. Lynette Ancona is based in Winter Park, Fla., and was with Schwab from 2009 to 2023 before joining Raymond James as a senior vice president of wealth management (at the time, she managed about $750 million in client assets).

1 week ago | wealthmanagement.com | Pat Donachie

In a response to several media “statements,” FINRA argued that reps won’t have to report on whether they “personally purchase” Bitcoin or beach houses, and that the rule actually cuts down on required reporting. FINRA is pushing back on criticism of proposed changes to its rules on reps’ outside business activities, including claims that advisors would have to clear any of their own purchases of crypto assets with their broker/dealers.