Wealth Enhancement Sues Advisor Over Contract Breach
Wealth Enhancement is taking one of its former advisors to court, alleging he violated his pledge not to solicit clients when he left to join RFG Advisory.
Wealth Enhancement filed the suit against Christopher Porpiglia in Minnesota state court last week. (The case was transferred to federal court.)
According to SEC records, Porpiglia first registered in 2013 with Manning & Napier Advisory before joining Wealth Enhancement in 2022. Porpiglia, who is based in upstate New York, reportedly formed his own firm, Wright Park Wealth, with RFG affiliation earlier this month.
According to court documents, Porpiglia resigned on Oct. 8, with Wealth Enhancement claiming he gave no notice and that he sent an email to his supervisor, who he knew was out of the office.
But Wealth Enhancement alleges that Porpiglia signed an employment contract with the firm when he joined in 2022. The firm claimed he was required to give 30 days’ notice of a resignation, that he could not use confidential information “for his own benefit” (including the identity and contact information for clients), and that he could not solicit clients for two years after the end of his employment.
The suit claims he immediately began working at RFG Advisory following his registration change and solicited former clients in violation of the contract.
The firm claimed it contacted Porpiglia’s counsel on Oct. 8, demanding a cease-and-desist, and they argue that the counsel responded, “It is his client’s fiduciary obligation to violate his agreement and talk with clients about (Wealth Enhancement) and why he resigned.” In court filings from last week, Wealth Enhancement claimed the advisor was prohibited from calling clients to tell them he’d left.
However, Mark Schroeder, an attorney with Taft Law who is representing Porpiglia in the suit, said he would deny “every material obligation” in the complaint, and would defend himself “vigorously.”
“From looking at the complaint, it appears this lawsuit is less an effort to protect legitimate business interests and more about an attempt to keep clients from having the freedom to select their own financial advisor,” he said. “That would be contrary to industry rules that protect client choice, including FINRA Rule 2140.”
In a statement, an RFG Advisory spokesperson said the firm does not comment on “ongoing legal matters,” but was “confident in the process followed in connection with this advisor’s transition to RFG.”
“Advisor choice and independence is the winning model, and our job is to give advisors the technology and support to build enduring, independent businesses for the clients and communities they serve,” the spokesperson said. “As a fiduciary, we also firmly believe that clients are the ultimate decision-makers of who they work with as an advisor.”
In the complaint, Wealth Enhancement asked the court to restrain Porpiglia from dealing with clients or prospective clients he had worked with before he left the RIA, and to award monetary damages.
