First and foremost, I totally understand how quickly these conversations can turn into “I should talk to an attorney”. I’m not there yet.
I’m at a large RIA and considering a move to another RIA in the same city. I don’t own any of my clients. However, I do have six family members who are clients and account for around $36 million in AUM.
I have a non-solicit agreement. If I left, these family members surely would find out through regular family discussions (eg: mom calls aunt and they’re chatting about the kids and she finds out I got a new job sort of thing).
I obviously want these family members to follow me and I am sure they would (I am the primary contact at my current firm and the only advisor they’ve worked with). The RIA I’m talking to doesn’t know they exist, so that’s not a concern.
Has anyone navigated this? My worries are that even if they do leave on their own accord, the total AUM size would cause my current firm to pursue questioning of whether I contacted them first. The team I currently work with has joint growth goals, and these clients leaving would surely set them back enough for it to be a tangible concern to them.
Idk, just thinking out loud. Also - I’d never contact them about it, the last thing I want is to jeopardize a new chapter in my career by doing something like that.
Maybe the simplest (and only) path is to let them find out, contact me about it, and go from there.