Personal Wealth Partners is suing a former employee and Kestra Investment Services for allegedly setting up a competing business and poaching clients with $43 million in assets.

The complaint, filed in Hennepin County in Minnesota, alleges investment advisor Gary Dean Ryberg violated his one-year non-compete agreement with Personal Wealth Partners (PWP) after he resigned and joined Kestra last month. In the suit, PWP is asking for a temporary restraining order and injunction to prevent Ryberg and Kestra from poaching more clients and assets pending a trial in court or a hearing before Finra.

Ryberg's attorney, Lauren Weber of Felhaber Larson in Minneapolis, said she could not speak for Kestra, only for her client. "He denies these allegations," she said. "And we will vigorously defend against them." 

Officials at Kestra did not return a call by press time.

According to the complaint, PWP and advisor Daniel Steichen had purchased their Williston, N.D., office in April 2014 from Douglas Taylor of LPL Financial, making a final payment in April 2020. Between April 2015 and January 2016, Steichen and Taylor worked together to move Taylor’s clients from LPL to PWP, and Taylor continued to work in the office until the end of 2019.

In January 2016, Steichen hired Ryberg (who previously worked at TIAA-CREF, according to BrokerCheck) as a financial planner to help clients with a wide range of planning services, from setting goals and determining strategies to retirement and estate planning, the filing said. When he joined PWP, Ryberg signed a confidentiality and non-compete agreement and moved from Bowbells, N.D., to Williston, the lawsuit said.

Over the next four years, Ryberg was assigned all 325 clients at the office, a group with about $144 million in assets under management, the filing said.

On Nov. 12 of this year, Ryberg resigned from PWP and on the same day became employed by and registered with Kestra, the suit said.

“In order to be registered and employed by Kestra on the date upon which he provided his resignation, Ryberg had to register as an agent in the states in which PWP's clients resided, seek tax advice, and lobby PWP clients to transfer their accounts while still employed by PWP,” the filing stated, adding that Ryberg mentioned his relationships with his clients and his belief they would follow him in his resignation letter.

“Accordingly, Ryberg already knew, on the day of his resignation, that some PWP clients would be transferring their accounts to him at Kestra. With Ryberg's willing assistance, Kestra is attempting to destroy PWP by acquiring a highly profitable wealth management business without paying for it either through capital investment or its purchase from PWP,” the lawsuit states.

Among the assets moved to Kestra with Ryberg were those of Taylor and about 114 other clients, representing $42.9 million in managed assets, or about 30% of the Williston office's business, the filing said. 

According to the complaint, PWP is asking that Ryberg and Kestra be prevented from using any client information taken from PWP records or contacting PWP clients. In addition, the firm requests compensatory damages of at least $50,000, disgorgement and return of wages and benefits paid to Ryberg, attorneys’ fees, and pre- and post-judgement interest on damages awarded.