Adviser complaints confront Genesys

Allegations of breaches of corporate confidentiality have been made against AXA-owned dealer group Genesys Wealth Advisers.

The allegations were made by the former chair of Genesys’ National Advisory Council, Andy Murdock, and his business partner Domenic Schiafone.

Murdock and Schiafone were long-term advisers and principals with Genesys and its predecessor business, Associated Planners, prior to resigning earlier this year to take their business to the recently formed Fortnum Financial Group. Their resignation from Genesys is effective from next month.

The pair outlined the reasons for their decision in an email distributed to a number of Genesys advisers and employees late last week.

Murdock and Schiafone said their position had become “untenable” when their former relationship manager “breached confidentiality” by contacting one of their staff to obtain information which was promptly communicated to “the solicitors of another member firm, from whom we were separating”.

Murdock and Schiafone made a formal complaint about the matter to Genesys Wealth Advisers, which they said had been ignored by senior Genesys executives, including its chief executive.

The pair said the complaint had been investigated by AXA’s “independent” human resources department, and that both the relationship manager involved and Genesys were criticised for the events in the resulting report. In their email, Murdock and Schiafone said AXA had criticised Genesys for “ignoring the complaint and failing to remove [the relationship manager] from a key account, when a serious allegation of inappropriate behaviour [had been made]”.

The pair acknowledged apologies were later forthcoming from Genesys’ chief executive and the relationship manager, though they felt the apologies did not adequately address the situation. Furthermore, the pair said no further action was taken at an executive level following the apologies.

The pair said it was based on those events, as well as a “lack of response to many other issues” from Genesys, that they decided to resign after 16 years with the business.

In response, Genesys Group chairman Andrew Waddell, who was one of the executive criticised in the correspondence, confirmed he had "seen Mr Murdock’s email giving his account of events resulting from the break up of his former practice".

"Whilst we won't comment publicly on the content, the approach is unprofessional and this conduct is unbecoming of a principal of a Genesys member firm," Waddell said.