At a glance
- Edelman Financial Engines won a temporary restraining order against Chad A. Kasper, who left the firm after nearly a decade to launch a practice with RFG Advisory in July, according to a complaint filed in Washington Superior Court.
- The order, granted Friday, bars Kasper from soliciting clients or using contact information obtained during his time at Edelman, and requires him to return or destroy confidential and proprietary information, according to AdvisorHub.
- Edelman alleged that clients with roughly $63.5 million in assets had already left.
The non-solicit fight that defined wirehouse recruiting has moved into the RIA channel. Edelman Financial Engines won a temporary restraining order against Chad A. Kasper, who left the firm after nearly a decade to launch a practice with RFG Advisory in July, according to a complaint filed in Washington Superior Court.
The order, granted Friday, bars Kasper from soliciting clients or using contact information obtained during his time at Edelman, and requires him to return or destroy confidential and proprietary information, according to AdvisorHub. It does not stop Kasper from retaining client information received after joining RFG, nor from completing paperwork for clients who had already begun moving their accounts.
Edelman alleged that clients with roughly $63.5 million in assets had already left. Kasper had serviced $501.4 million, according to the complaint. The departing assets represented nearly 13% of that book. About $21 million moved in a single day. The firm argued it faced an immediate and continuing violation of its contractual rights without injunctive relief.
The 90-day resignation notice at the center of the case
The complaint centers on a 90-day resignation notice that Kasper allegedly skipped, plus his solicitation of clients. Registration records show he joined Financial Engines, Edelman's predecessor, in October 2016, and stayed through its merger with Edelman Financial Services. He began his career at Russell Fund Distributors in 2006, then moved to Financial Engines from Prudential Investment Management.
The order's carve-outs are worth reading closely. Kasper can still serve clients who initiated a move, and information he received after joining RFG is outside the order's reach. That makes the restraint narrower than a full ban on taking clients.
Edelman declined to comment. Kasper's lawyers at Fox Rothschild did not respond to requests for comment, according to AdvisorHub. RFG manages nearly $9 billion in assets, the complaint says. Kasper's team has opened the 20th NewEdge Wealth location. The team has three advisors. Three support staff work alongside them. The order is temporary, which means the dispute over the rest of the book is only starting.
Reported by the Recruiting & transitions desk from AdvisorHub. Published . Corrections