Rockefeller Capital Management has won an arbitration decision that will enable it to claw back nearly $2 million from one of its former brokers who left the firm, Advisor Hub reports.
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitrator ruled in favor of Rockefeller in its dispute with David Frankfort, who departed in February 2024 to join Corient Private Wealth, a subsidiary of Canadian asset manager CI Financial.
In June, Rockefeller sued Frankfort , alleging he had not repaid the outstanding balance on a recruiting bonus he was paid when he joined the firm in May 2020 from a unit of Raymond James. The FINRA arbitrator in the case ordered Frankfort to repay a total of $1.967 million plus interest to the firm.
The arbitrator also denied Frankfort’s counterclaim that he should be able to use shares of Rockefeller stock that had vested to offset the outstanding balance.
Frankfort’s lawyer, David E. Robbins of Kaufmann Gildin & Robbins LLP in New York, did not return a request for comment. A Rockefeller spokesperson declined to comment.
Frankfort became Rockefeller’s first advisor in Houston when he joined the firm from Raymond James’ Alex Brown division. At Alex Brown, he was managing about $600 million in assets for a list of clients that reportedly included a number of pro athletes, and generated around $4.5 million in revenue.
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