A lawsuit from U.S. Bank is accusing three former employees of wrongly taking two dozen wealthy clients, and their $700 million in managed assets, after abruptly quitting their jobs last month and moving to crosstown competitor RBC Wealth Management.
Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank is seeking damages from the three former members of its private wealth management division, saying they broke contracts barring them from client solicitation. The employees worked with many important, wealthy customers and collectively serviced relationships worth more than $4 billion.
The three worked primarily with clients worth between $10 million and $75 million, according to the lawsuit, though some carried a net worth well above $75 million. The bank did not identify any of the involved clients in its court filings.
According to the lawsuit filed Wednesday, all three quit April 15 and took jobs at RBC, also based in Minneapolis. The three had worked for U.S. Bank between 10 and 27 years, the lawsuit says.
Attempts to reach the three advisors — James Kirk, Darcy Frederickson and Jason Beumer – were unsuccessful. An attorney identified in U.S. Bank’s court pleadings as a lawyer for all three did not return a message left at his office Thursday morning.
RBC is not a party to the lawsuit. A company spokesperson did not respond to the Minnesota Star Tribune’s request for comment Thursday.
RBC’s recruitment of Kirk was reported in a handful of industry trade publications. A press statement referenced in the reports touts Kirk as “joining from U.S. Bank with more than $1 billion in assets under management” and quotes two leaders in RBC’s Minneapolis office.
Since the employees quit, U.S. Bank has been doing damage control, in part by working to identify the total number of clients lost as a result of the move. According to its court pleadings, the bank says 24 clients are tied to the moves last month, though the research is ongoing.
