Dynasty Financial Advisors announced that Bank of America had agreed to settle its suit brought after Merrill Lynch’s Michael Brown brought his team to Dynasty in December.
Brown’s team includes Charles Britton.
Details of the settlement remain scant. Bank of America filed the lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court in December, and accused Brown and his team of improperly taking client account information with them as they left the company for Dynasty Financial Partners.
“We are pleased that we have been able to resolve these issues amicably,” said Shirl Penney, president and CEO of Dynasty in a statement. “With this matter behind us, Mike, Charles and their team can focus on building their business at Dynasty.”
Nevertheless,
Officials at Dynasty view Brown’s team as integral to putting together a strong wealth management business, and remain committed to them.
“Michael has one of the more sophisticated practices we’ve ever had the opportunity to be around,” Shirl Penney, president and chief executive officer of Dynasty Financial Partners said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “They have significant pools of corporate executives, entrepreneurs. It is a very sophisticated book of business, and it makes us ensure that our platform is comprehensive and cutting edge.”
Brown’s team exemplifies the type of advisors that Dynasty wants to attract. In 2009, Barron’s magazine ranked Brown’s team number 28 among its Top 100 Financial Advisors. Charles Britton, a key member of Brown’s team, also joined Dynasty Financial Partners as a partner of wealth management.
Penney said the firm hopes to bring on advisors who manage at least $250 million in client assets, regardless of the practice’s business model. Officials at Dynasty Financial Partners hope that in the next five years, they will be home to 100 to 150 top financial advisors in the country, and have about $150 billion in assets under management.