The first hints of internal strife came to light in 2014, when attorneys for the ex-executives described an unnamed employee who “punched walls, broke phones, threw pens and slammed doors in employees’ faces,” court documents said. At the time, people familiar with the matter identified Chyung as the employee, although Chyung said that he didn’t punch walls. The insurer dispatched its own HR reps on several occasions to smooth things over, the people said. Earlier, Principal hired a corporate consultant to “restore harmony,” the court documents said.

‘Trade Incident’

Some former managers also suggested that Chyung undergo professional coaching and asked the firm to institute a policy to compel him to disclose his trading decisions to others on the investment team, court documents said. They cited a partially redacted “trade incident” for fracturing the managers’ trust. The proposals were generally rejected, according to the court documents.

That’s not to say the internal discord was all Chyung’s fault. An arbitrator in the legal spat between Larry Post and Post Advisory concluded Chyung “was not the only source of conflict,” a copy of an April decision filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on July 24 showed. Nevertheless, he was the sole employee called out by the arbitrator for his “persistently volatile temperament.”

(The arbitration stems from a dispute over whether Larry Post and two former executives, the aforementioned Sagi and Sanije Perrett, violated agreements including a non-compete clause when they left the firm. Sagi and Perrett formed Arena Capital and Larry Post became a partner there. The arbitrator didn’t find that any of the ex-employees breached their fiduciary duty, stole confidential information or trade secrets. However, the arbitrator ordered Larry Post to pay $2.5 million in damages and all three to reimburse certain expenses after they failed to show they acted in the firm’s best interests. The founder has asked a judge to strike the award.)

Closed-Door Blowup

Whatever the case, Principal did little to make the situation better, the people said. People close to the bond shop still chatter about an incident roughly a year ago between Chyung and Jim McCaughan, who oversees Principal’s $430 billion asset-management business. During a particularly tense, closed-door meeting between McCaughan and senior Post Advisory staff at its headquarters, tempers flared. Chyung yelled at the smaller, 65-year-old McCaughan, and went so far as to threaten to fight him in the conference room, according to people familiar with the incident.

McCaughan and Principal declined to comment, according to Slusark, who cited the company’s privacy and confidentiality policy.

In the months following the blowup, McCaughan finally moved to clip Chyung’s wings, installing Christopher Reddy as president to oversee operations and naming Jeffrey Stroll as Post Advisory’s deputy CIO. Chyung also started to work remotely earlier this year, often for weeks at a time, and comes into the office less, people with knowledge of the matter said. Principal says Chyung decided to take advantage of the firm’s flexible work program.

Pointing Fingers