Edelman Lawsuit Claims Mariner CEO Bicknell Personally Called Potential RecruitEdelman Lawsuit Claims Mariner CEO Bicknell Personally Called Potential Recruit
Mariner’s recruitment scheme “was calculated to ensure Mariner received Edelman’s trade secrets,” according to amendments made to a lawsuit Edelman first filed in 2023.
Mariner Wealth Advisors CEO Marty Bicknell personally called at least one Edelman Financial Engines advisor to entice him to switch firms, according to new court filings in the latter firm’s ongoing lawsuit against Mariner.
Mariner’s recruitment process “was calculated to ensure Mariner received Edelman’s trade secrets, including but not limited to the identities of Edelman clients and their assets under management, both before and after offering employment to Horne,” according to an amended version of Edelman’s original complaint filed Friday.
Edelman originally sued Mariner in November 2023, alleging the smaller firm lured numerous advisors, incentivizing them to break non-solicitation agreements to steal trade secrets. Edelman claims Mariner has poached at least 851 Edelman clients, representing over $621 million in managed assets. According to the amended complaint, Edelman advisor Michael Horne was recruited by Mariner and signed a “confidentiality agreement” during the process. Horne and Mariner allegedly agreed to “furnish to each other confidential and proprietary information.”
As part of the process, Horne filled out a questionnaire that asked for client service models used at Edelman, Horne’s historical AUM at the firm and the fee schedule he used, Edelman claimed. According to Edelman, Mariner used this data to determine Horne’s compensation package, assuming he could solicit some Edelman clients. Horne recreated a list of his Edelman clients and information about their AUM and ability to make future investments, which Edelman argues were trade secrets.
Edelman also accused former advisor John Geilfuss of conspiring to take the firm’s trade secrets when he left for Mariner. The company alleged that Geilfuss took screenshots of information, including the investment positions of Edelman clients and the fees they were charged.
Edelman also alleged that Mariner is continuing to poach advisors in this fashion.
According to an Edelman spokesperson, the firm filed the complaint to address Mariner’s “ongoing” actions, which it argued “recently resumed its years-long campaign of luring away” Edelman planners.
In its original response to Edelman, Mariner argued Edelman was waging a campaign to “unlawfully stifle fair competition” and was trying to send “a chilling public message to the marketplace” that planners who leave for Mariner “will be subjected to meritless litigation.”
Mariner did not respond to requests for comment prior to publication.
Last June, a federal judge dismissed Edelman’s claims that Mariner had defamed the firm, though the more significant accusations of misappropriation and conspiracy remained.
