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Towry Accuses Rivals Of Poaching Clients, Seeks £6 Million In Damages

Joseph Milton

10 June 2011

The UK-based wealth advisory firm Towry has started court proceedings seeking £6 million ($9.8 million) in damages from seven former Edward Jones advisors and their current employer, Raymond James Investment Services, over alleged client-poaching, according to Citywire.

The case began on Tuesday in the Royal Courts of Justice, and saw Towry take on Raymond James and ex-Edward Jones advisors, Barry Bennett, Pieter Burger, James Chandler, Wayne Hayhurst, Stuart Hutton, Tracey Simpson and Thomas Spain.

The advisors left Edward Jones for Raymond James when the UK arm of the former was taken over by Towry in 2009.

In court, says Citywire, Towry stated that the advisors “joined Raymond James as self-employed advisors, and within a short period of time, nearly 400 clients came to transfer their investments, worth over £33 million, and their investment business from Towry to Raymond James”, allegedly breaching their contracts with Towry.

The firm will reportedly argue it suffered significant losses, “amounting to nearly £6 million”.

However, the news service says the counsel for the defendants claimed there is no evidence of either loss or solicitation and that they “were simply followed by their clients”, describing the damages claim as “misconceived”.

Towry originally took out an injunction against Raymond James and the advisors in April 2010, but the hearing has been postponed until now. The case, which is scheduled to last for four weeks, is being heard by Mrs Justice Cox.

Towry confirmed the details of the case when contacted by WealthBriefing.